Harry Potter and the Muggle
by talulahbridge
Summary: Harry and Ginny's life is perfect until a muggle comes into it, family life begins to change and Harry working away means Ginny has to pick up the pieces, will all this affect their perfect life or will they get through it unscathed? Read on....
1. Chapter 1

**It's been a while but this story was swimming around in my head so I started it. It is different to my others as it is a bit more family oriented with a bit of angst included, I had a bit of writers block for a while as I found it difficult when not just writing slushy romantic stuff!! I have kept it in mature rating for adult content but this is not just about Ginny and Harry! While not strictly a sequal to my other stories it does fit in with the story line as in my world that is where Harry went and I don't want to stray from the plot of his life as I see it! Please read and review!**

Four year old Lily Luna Potter gazed up at the two most magical people in her world, her mum and dad. Lily thought they were amazing, her father was strong and handsome with dark hair and a strange scar on his forehead above one eyebrow, her mother was soft and pretty with long, curly red hair which she liked to play with when she sat on her knee. She thought they were so amazing because they always looked happy and they always smiled at each other, though she was only four years old she could never ever remember them being cross with each other. She had heard them get cross with her brothers, James and Albus, especially when they were being boisterous, which was most of the time, but she had never heard them get cross with each other. Her father seemed to worship the ground her mother walked on and Lily thought this was how all men should act towards women, however she knew this was not always the case. The little girl had lots of Uncles and they nearly all had wives and children of their own and although they were always happy they didn't seem to have that same sense of awe that her parents had for each other.

Her Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione got angry with each other a lot, they shouted at each other sometimes too but they always seemed to make it up, her cousins Rose and Hugo, who were there children seemed to think it was normal and often said that Lily's Mum and Dad were weird because they didn't argue, but she could never agree with them. Lily thought that their parents were weird for being angry with each other a lot and that her parents were just perfect. Her dad smiled down at her as he walked over to the chair in the kitchen where she sat and picked her up, swinging her round in the air and making her squeal with delight, the raven haired wizard pulled his daughter into his arms and gave her a crushing hug, Lily noticed her mother watching them with that usual smile on her face and then it turned to a frown as they all heard a groan from the top of the stairs signalling a fresh argument brewing between her brothers.

"Why can't they be sweet and friendly like you Lily Potter?" her father chuckled in her ear as she watched her mother leave the kitchen, still wearing the pinny she had on to protect her clothes from the baking she was doing, "Look, Mum's gone Lily, shall we lick the bowl clean?" he added nodding to the large glass bowl full of chocolate frosting that her mother had just finished spreading on the top of her brother's birthday cake. Lily nodded eagerly and her father walked to the table still carrying her, he dropping her onto the table top next to the bowl and lifted it up to her so she could sweep her finger through the remaining frosting. Grinning childishly at her he followed suit and the pair of them stuck their chocolate covered fingers in their mouths and sucked the frosting off, the emerald eyes of the wizard sparkled at Lily as he made yummy noises and swiped his finger through the bowl again. Lily copied him and they laughed at each other as they listened to her mother scolding the two boys at the top of the stairs, "You two have one last chance today and then you'll be banished to your bedrooms and miss the party even if it is for your birthday Albus."

"Oh dear," Lily's father chuckled, "Albus will be rather upset if that happens, maybe you should go and rub off some of your goodness on them Lily and they might behave better!" She gazed at him in her usual awe as her mother re-entered the room and stopped in the doorway, "Oh-oh, busted," he said as he caught the blazing look in her mother's eyes, "I think we'd better go and clean you up little angel," he added sweeping her up in his arms again and heading cautiously to the kitchen doorway. "We'll...we'll be back soon," he said as he kissed her mother on the forehead sheepishly, Lily caught the look of amusement dancing in her eyes and smiled at her as she was swept from the room and up the stairs to the bathroom on the first floor.

"That was close darling, if she hadn't been so angry at your brothers we might have had it then," he said with a twinkle in his eye as he sat her down on the edge of the toilet and began to wet a flannel in the sink, "You've got chocolate everywhere young lady," he continued chuckling again, "It's a good job you haven't put that pretty dress on yet!" He wiped her face and hands before taking one of them in his own and leading her out of the bathroom towards the playroom on the same floor, there they found James and Albus playing a quiet game of wizard's chess on the carpet, their mother had evidently put the fear of Merlin into them about missing the party and they were clearly on their best behaviour. "Can I leave this little girl in your capable hands young men?" her father asked letting go of her hand. They looked up and nodded at him as Lily went into a corner of the room where she kept her box of dolls and found her favourite one to play with, the playroom door closed softly and Lily was left in the room with her siblings.

"Mummy was mad at you," the little girl said to the boys.

"Yeah, but we're good now aren't we James?"

"Yeah," he nodded in reply, "And _we're_ playing chess, it's a boy's game so keep yourself with your dolls and let us play, Loony Lily!" She pouted at her eldest brother, he sometimes called her Loony Lily because he knew she had been named after one of their parents' best friends who used to be called 'Loony' at school. James had found out when he was evesdropping on a dinner party their parent had once had at the house. They were all supposed to be in bed but James had crept out and sat in the landing listening to the conversation in the dining room, he had first called Lily 'Loony Lily' the next morning and it had earned him a day in his bedroom alone after a severe telling off from their mother. James had been made to apologise to Lily and to Luna, the next time she visited, which he had found extremely embarrassing but when their parents were out of earshot he still referred to his sister as Loony Lily.

"You can't call me that," she scolded and he laughed at her, "Stop it or I'll tell Mum and you won't be able to go to the party!" James's face fell immediately and he eyed his sister warily, she may have been the youngest but she was not a silly girl, she was quite intelligent and could be as sneaky as the two of them when she needed to be. James knew that in the eyes of their parents, especially their father, Lily could do no wrong, but he and Albus knew different and were careful not to push her too far, "Okay, you can watch if you want to," he said smiling at her and Lily brought her doll to the little wooden table where they sat and began to comb it's hair as she watched the two boys ordering their chess pieces around. They never let her play chess but she watched them carefully and knew how the game worked, Albus was better than James as he had more patience and often beat the older Potter who could be a very sore loser but today James was playing well and after almost an hour of play he had called 'checkmate' and the game was over.

"Ha ha ha ha ha," he scoffed at Albus who didn't rise to the bait at all, "Another game?" ha asked but they were interrupted as the door flew open and their cousins Rose and Hugo bounded through into the room.

"Ooooo, chess!" Rose trilled at the boys, "Let me play."

"Girls can't play chess," James retorted.

"Say's who?" Rose replied putting her hands on her hips and glaring at James defiantly. Lily thought she looked an awful lot like her mother at that moment and she remembered the way her Aunt Hermione could shout at her Uncle Ron, she didn't envy James at all.

"Me," the oldest boy replied taking on the same stance. The other three children sat back and waited for the argument, James and Rose argued a lot when they played together, even more than James and Albus could argue. "Chess is a man's game Rose and girls don't play!"

"They do too, my Dad taught me how to play and I'm a girl"

"Well Uncle Ron's stupid then, he shouldn't have let you play."

"Don't say my Dad's stupid or else..." anger was blazing in her eyes and it was reflected in James's, Lily watched on in amusement but Albus and Hugo had already grown bored, they were rifling through the box of wizard toys in a large, oak toy box under the window.

"Or else what?" James retorted smugly.

"Or i'll..I'll...hex you, I can do some spells already you know!" she shrieked.

"Oh yeah? You still can't do them, you're not allowed, you'll break the rules and get into trouble," James was goading her and Rose was biting, he started to smile and her face was filled with fury.

"James Sirius Potter, I'll...I'll."

"You'll...you'll!" he reiterated wiggling his hips and smiling at her, Lily thought Rose's head might explode, her face was bright red and she was shaking uncontrollably. They were saved from the explosion however as the door to the playroom opened again and Lily's favourite Uncle stepped into the room.

"Uncle Ron," she called running up to him and he lifted her up into his arms to give her a tight squeeze, "What's going on in here?" he asked looking at his daughter whose face was now beginning to return to it's usual colour.

"James said girls can't play chess, that's not right is it Dad?" Lily's uncle looked down at the young boy with the dark messy hair and frowned, James didn't know which way to look and he began to turn the same colour that Rose had just been.

"Well now Rose, that's probably just because his dad never lets his mum play anymore, 'cause she always beats him!" he added as an aside, " He never was good at chess!" Rose smiled triumphantly at James and stuck her tongue out at him when her father wasn't looking. James knew he wasn't allowed to argue back with grown ups so he accepted it for now but still knew that he wouldn't let Rose play with his chess pieces.

"The party's about to start you lot, ready birthday boy?" he asked looking in Albus' direction, the younger Potter boy nodded and the five children trooped out of the playroom behind Ron making their way over to the living room where a crowd of people had gathered to celebrate the boy's eighth birthday. Lily looked around the room at all her favourite people who were gathered in this room for her brother's party, Albus was being crushed in a hug by their Grandma Molly while Grandad Arthur stood shaking his head behind them. Her father was stood in the corner talking to her Uncle Bill and cousin Victoire who was eleven and about to go away to school, her Aunt Fleur stood behind them listening to the conversation and looking, as usual, like the most beautiful thing Lily had ever seen. Uncle Percy had come with his daughter Molly and baby Lucy but stood uncomfortably in the corner of the room with Aunty Audrey, Lily noticed her mum trying to make him feel better but she gave up after a short while and walked over to where uncle George was now giving Albus his birthday present, Lily watched as he opened a huge box of tricks from Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes saw his eyes light up, "Thanks Uncle George," he trilled before delving into the box and pulling out trick wands, extendable ears and other magical items.

By the time Ginny Potter brought out the chocolate birthday cake the party had been swinging for hours, all the children were running around the house on a sugar high and the adults were collapsed in the living room from exhaustion, Harry called them all into the living room with them and ordered them to sit on the floor then he used his diluminator to turn out the lights. Ginny walked in with the cake and Harry caught his daughter's eye with his own winking at her as he recalled them cleaning out the bowl with their fingers earlier that day, she smiled back at him and he felt his heart melt as it always did when his pretty little girl smiled at him. From the moment Lily had entered the world he had been entranced by her, he loved his sons just as much as Lily and knew he would go through anything for any one of them but Lily was his baby and his girl, he had a special bond with her and every time she looked at him he felt completely overwhelmed.

"Happy birthday Albus," everyone chorused simultaneously as Ginny put the cake on the coffee table and Albus looked at the eight candles burning on the top, "One, two, three," everyone cheered as he took a deep breath and blew all the candles out in one go.

"Hip, hip..." shouted George.

"Hooray," everyone responded and Albus smiled for the camera his father was waving in his face. Harry was determined to capture as much of his life in pictures as he could, especially when it came to his children, he had no photographs of himself during his early childhood save one that he had found in Sirius' wardrobe which showed him as a baby with his mother and father. The Dursley's had covered their walls in pictures of their own son, Dudley, but of course they never displayed any evidence in their house that another boy lived there, in fact Harry was sure they had never even owned any photographic 

evidence of his existence, they had never even bought his school photographs. He had a collection of photographs of himself and his friends taken during his time at Hogwarts along with a collection put together of his life since Voldemort was defeated but when he returned from Romania and discovered he had a new family he had bought himself the best wizarding camera out there and recorded every tiny detail that he could. Where the heads of the past house elves enslaved to work in the house of Black had once hung, were now pictures of his children giggling, waving and smiling down at everyone who climbed the stairs and a whole stack of shelves in the Potter-Black library were now dedicated to family photograph albums which Harry would often peruse when his children were asleep, marvelling all over again at the wonderful life he had never dreamed he would be able to have.

The gathering continued with cake, party games and music, Hermione and Harry had introduced some muggle party games like, pin the tail on the donkey and musical chairs which the children thought were amazing, most of the Weasley's were equally amazed by the games which they had never heard of before and George wanted to add a new element to musical chairs by having them hover around in the air while the children tried to catch them and sit down, but Hermione flatly refused to have her children jumping in the air to catch chairs ("Aw stop being a spoil sport Granger!" George had joked but her frown had shut him up quickly).

By eight o clock people were beginning to leave, the younger children were tired and wilting in front of the adults and when the house was empty of guests Harry had to carry a drowsy Lily up to her room to sleep, she had curled up with a cushion and blanket on the sofa and was sucking her thumb when he had noticed her. Albus was close behind but another hour of coaxing was needed to get James into bed, he was adamant that he did not need to go to bed as early as his siblings did, being almost nine meant he was much more grown up than them, or so he thought. Eventually Ginny had had to use her stern voice with him and he had beat a hasty retreat from the kitchen as her blazing 'Weasley' look had burned into his face.

She had then turned that gaze onto Harry who knew he was in trouble for not getting him to bed on time so he followed the boy upstairs and made sure he was tucked up and asleep before returning to help his wife clear up the mess. However by the time he had descended the last few steps and re-entered the kitchen Ginny had set her wand cleaning up the mess and was sat in a squashy armchair by the roaring fire with a large cup of cocoa in her hands and her feet up on a footstool. Gazing at her fiery hair Harry made his way towards the chair and placed his hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze he whispered, "They're all tucked up and out for the count."

"Hmm, about time," she said gruffly but then turned to smile at him, Ginny Potter could not stay mad with her husband for long, no matter what he did and he grinned sheepishly back at her, "Need me to do anything?"

"No, the wand's taking care of it and Kreacher is doing the living room, come and join me," she gestured to the other armchair in front of the fire and Harry took a seat, using his wand to charm himself a cup of cocoa he settled down to relax with his beautiful wife. "It's been a good day," she sighed tiredly and Harry nodded his agreement, "I think Albus enjoyed himself anyway!"

"I think you're right," Harry agreed, "He was shattered, went down like a baby!"

"I can't believe he's eight already, and Lily's almost five, where has the time gone?" Ginny asked, "It barely seems like five minutes since I was here giving birth to James, never mind the other two!"

"It's gone on caring for them my darling," he answered sliding forward in his seat and placing his hands on Ginny's knees, she leaned forwards and put her hands on top of his.

"Time for another one?" she asked timidly and Harry's eyes flew wide open, he loved all his children dearly and would walk through fire for them all but they were a handful at the best of times and he had been quite content with just the three of them.

"Let's see what happens shall we," he answered vaguely and she smiled back at him, she too was quite content with her three little bundles of joy, although she had always imagined having almost as many children as her mother and father had had, the reality of looking after three all day every day had curbed her longing for the usual large Weasley family, "But we could always practice making them if you fancy!" he added winking at her with an impish look on his face as she stood up to wash her now empty cocoa mug. Gently taking the cup from her hands he placed it on the table next to them and pulled her onto his knee where he wrapped his arms around her and placed a passionate but soft kiss on her lips.

"Do you ever think about anything else Harry James Potter?" she chided softly and then kissed him back with the same passion he had shown her.

"Yeah, the kids and what they're going to get up to next!" he replied, "But when they are peacefully tucked up in bed then all I can think about is you," he brushed a stray strand of red hair from her eyes and stared into them deeply, contemplating as he often did about the fact that he had never, at any point in his life, thought he would be as happy as he was right now.

Life had not treated him that fairly up until he married Ginny Weasley and even after he had done that he had had it taken away from him for a while, he still worried sometimes that it was all just a dream and that he would wake up one day back in that murky cupboard under the stairs at number four Privet Drive, still living with his Aunt and Uncle. He shuddered at the thought and Ginny looked at him pensively but he shook his head at her and she ignored it knowing that he would sometimes reflect on his life with the Dursleys, before he had ever known that he was a wizard. It pained her to think of his childhood and how different it had been to her own, she had always had loving brothers to play with, they had often left her out because she had been a girl but she had proven on many occasions that she could give as good as she got and could join in with any rough housing that went on in the Weasley household. The only time she had ever been lonely was the year when Ron had gone to Hogwarts and she had been left at home alone with their parents, it had been a long year in the Burrow without her noisy siblings but it had been nothing compared to what Harry had suffered for ten years before that.

She gazed back into his troubled eyes and smiled at him, the twinkle in her eyes showed Harry that she was up to something and he realised she was trying to take his mind away from where it had just travelled, sliding her hand down to his trousers she began to unbutton them as she kissed him tenderly and nibbled at his lips, he responded to her touch and used it as a signal to loosen the buttons on the front of her shirt, sliding his hand inside it he unhooked her bra and began to softly stroke her bare breasts with his hands, she moaned gently and he echoed her when her hand began to stroke the quickly mounting bulge in his trousers. Within minutes they were laid on the fluffy sheepskin rug in front of the fire, Harry flicked his wand in the direction of the kitchen door and heard the lock click, if the children made a noise Kreacher would respond to them and if he saw the door was locked he would retreat back up the stairs. The lovers moved with each other as one until they were both filled with ecstasy and collapsed, still as one, on the floor where they had just made love to each other. Laying in silence until their breathing and heartbeats returned to normal, they stroked and caressed each other's bodies for a few minutes, Harry gazed at his wife lovingly and she smiled warmly back at him, "I love you Ginny Potter," he breathed in her ear, "And I still don't know what I ever did to deserve you!" she was used to this conversation with Harry now and simply continued to grin in his direction.

They stayed on the floor in front of the blazing fire for another half an hour before rising to dress themselves and sit back in the cosy armchairs, Harry flicked his wand to unlock the door and Ginny did a quick sweep of the children's bedrooms to make sure everything was alright upstairs. They had barely moved an inch since Harry had tucked them in and she returned to the kitchen content in the knowledge that all was well. She and Harry sat for another hour talking about the party and their family, sometimes they really did find it hard to believe that they were all grown up and married with children now, well all except Charlie who still had more interest in dragons than women, however much he liked to protest it. "It's so good to have such a large family around us," Harry said once again remembering the lack of one he had had as a child, "I love it when they all come to visit or when we all get together at the Burrow it gives me such a warm feeling!" Ginny nodded her agreement she too loved the large family they had and was warmed by the fact that all of the children seemed to get on so well too.

"I often wonder about my family you know," Harry continued a slight frown furrowinghis brow, "I mean I know I haven't seen any of them for about fifteen years but they were the only flesh and blood family that I have ever known, even if they were rotten." Ginny placed a hand on his knee as he continued to talk about the Dursley's, "When I think of all your brothers and their children I wonder about Dudley, I mean in the end he was strangely grateful to me and it's not that I want to have him in my life all the time like your family, he did spend fifteen years making my life a misery, but I suppose I'm curious about what he's doing now, what they are all doing." Harry looked down at his feet as if he was ashamed but Ginny lifted his chin and smiled at him.

"It's only natural Harry," she crooned, "However badly they treated you, they were still responsible for you and they brought you up, they were a big part of your life, I'd be inquisitive about it too. In fact I've always been strangely curious about meeting them, just because they were part of your life and from everything you've said about them I suppose I'd like to see what kind of people they are now," he looked at her in amazement, this was so Ginny and he loved her even more for understanding and supporting his curiosity.

"I once looked them up you know," he murmured looking down to his knees as if ashamed.

"Really?"

Harry looked up to see his wife's patient and understanding eyes looking back at him waiting for him to continue, "It was just after Lily was born, I was clearing out that far section of the library for the photo albums and I found a box of documents from the old order. I started looking through them and I found some parchments with the Durlsey's name on, Ginny gasped, "Why did they have documents on the Dursleys?"

"From when they moved them before my protection ran out."

"Of course," she nodded.

"There wasn't much but they were just detailing where they had taken them, I never knew because...well no one told me and I never really wanted to know back then."

"So where did they go?"

"Cornwall...St Ives to be exact, Aunt Petunia probably loved it she'd always wanted to go to Cornwall," he chuckled and Ginny smiled too. "I went there," Harry looked down again as if ashamed of what he'd done.

"Go on," Ginny added encouragingly patting his hand again.

"I apparated to the address that was there, I didn't go to the actual house or anything, I just...just watched it for a while from under the invisibility cloak, I saw Uncle Vernon going to work and Aunt Petunia waving him off, they hadn't changed at all she still had that scowl on her face and she had to check all the flowers were in line on the path after he'd gone! I was tempted to jump out at her just to see what she'd do but I didn't, I just continued watching the house all day from the cloak, I didn't know why I had to stay there, but I did and eventually a car pulled upon the drive, not a car I expected Aunt Petunia would allow on her drive but when it pulled up she came running out of the house with a smile on her face and I realised why when the door opened. It was Dudley. He lumbered out of the car as big as he ever was and headed into the house, the other door opened and a small, thin girl with long, lanky blonde hair hoisted herself out, she looked miserable like life had handed her a raw deal. Aunt Petunia however barely acknowledged her as she pulled open the back door and lifted a small child out of a child seat, he looked to be about as old as James was then and had the exact temperament that Dudley had had at his age. He squirmed hitting out at Aunt Petunia but I could hear her saying something about 'little boys' just like she would have done with Dudley then she tried to cuddle him as she walked inside still avoiding the young woman who was trailing slowly behind them. After that I left, thankful that I wasn't part of it any more and even more grateful for the wonderful family I have here," he looked at his wife again and she smiled as she leaned across to kiss him gently on the lips.

"Why didn't you tell me about it when you went?" she asked.

"I don't know, I think I was ashamed of myself for going, for being curious about the people who were no longer a part of my life, I just tried to forget about it, but every now and again I wonder about them, the child will be about nine I guess, like James, I wonder what he's like?"

"Probably like Dudley from what you said, a spoilt little brat."

"You're probably right," he replied and then looked at the kitchen clock on the wall, "I think we'd better go to bed, it's been a long day for both of us." Ginny nodded at him and rose form her chair, "Forget about them anyway, the Dursley's are no longer a part of my life, they haven't been for the last fifteen years and I'm not going back there again." Ginny leaned up to stroke his face with her hand and he smiled at her touch, every day Harry Potter felt like the luckiest man alive and he hoped that nothing was ever going to change that.


	2. Chapter 2

Two weeks later Lily Potter was sat on the floor in front of the kitchen fire once more playing with her dolls, her mother was baking and her older brothers were playing wizard chess at the table under the watchful gaze of their father. Albus and James had been arguing again and had been ordered to stay in his sight for the rest of the afternoon, fortunately the game was going well for James this time and the arguing was kept at bay. A tap at the window signalled the arrival of a post owl and Harry went to let it in, a dark tawny owl with a small rolled up parchment flitted through the window and landed on the table edge, holding out it's leg the owl allowed Harry to remove the parchment, then accepted a small treat from Ginny before flying back out of the still open window. Lily watched her father unroll the parchment and begin to read it, a small smile lighting up his face as he did so, "It's from Abery." Ha said.

"Oh," said Ginny brightly, "How is he?"

"Pretty good by the sound of it, Kingsley has made him head of the auror office," Harry replied.

"Wow," she replied, "He must be pleased." Ginny turned to Harry and walked up behind him to read the letter herself.

"He wants us to go to a Ministry ball being held in his honour next week, he says he's sent an owl to Ron and Hermione too and Charlie, if it wasn't for you lot he says he wouldn't be alive to have taken the position."

Lily Potter watched on curiously, her brothers were still deep in concentration on their game but her attention had turned to their parents. They had mentioned Abery, it was a name she had heard a few times but she didn't know who he was, all she did know was that he had helped her mother a long time ago to find her father when he had gone missing. In her head she imagined that they had been playing a game of hide and seek and that it had taken a while for them to find Harry but whenever her mother did talk about 'the game' as she imagined it, she seemed to look sad. He had not been there when James was born because of 'the game' and she found it strange to think that he had been missing when something so important was happening. Lily watched as they folded up the parchment and returned to what they had been doing before and she too returned to her dolls.

Seconds later the fire in front of her turned green and a whirl of flames signalled the arrival of someone else, she looked up to see her Uncle Charlie standing in front of her dusting ash from his robes, Lily knew that he was the only person who could get into their house without an appointment apart from those who lived there. She had once asked him why he was the only person who could do that and he had told her that he had once lived there a long time ago when her Daddy had gone missing. Again she had gone back to that 'game' and wondered why her father had had to go missing when it had obviously made her mother so sad. "Hey beautiful," Charlie said picking her up and squeezing her tightly until she squirmed.

"Uncle Charlie," the boys chirped in unison. Charlie Weasley was not a regular visitor to the Potter home, in fact he wasn't a regular visit to anyone so they always loved it when he flooed in to see them.

"Hey boys," he answered, "Albus have you grown again?"

"Well I did turn eight so...maybe."

Charlie chuckled and turned to James, "Winning I hope," he said gesturing to the game at the table.

"Always," James replied.

Albus giggled, "Yeah right."

"Boys," came a stern voice from the corner pre-empting the argument that would ensue, "Hi big brother," Ginny continued turning to look at him, "What brings you here causing arguments between my sons?" she placed her hands on her hips and Lily Potter knew he could be in trouble.

"I came to see if you'd heard the news about Abery?"

"Yeah, the owl just arrived," Harry told him walking over to shake his brother in law's hand, "You going to the ball?"

"Think I can squeeze it in, might even bring a date!" his eyes twinkled as Harry and Ginny laughed at him, Ginny handed him a glass of pumpkin juice before sitting at the table and enjoying a few minutes of witty banter with Harry and Charlie. They were disturbed by James throwing the chess game against the wall when Albus' chesspiece called checkmate and then the kitchen became host to another of the Potter boys' arguments, Ginny left the table to berate them while Charlie and Harry discussed Abery's promotion. "It's about time they gave him head auror, if you ask me they should have given it to him when you turned it down."

"I don't think he would have taken it then to be honest Charlie, he had lost confidence in them like I had after the way they handled our mission, it was only because he needed to work that he had to go back, otherwise I think he would have left it all behind like I did."

"Do you ever miss it?" Charlie asked.

"Sometimes," Harry mused, "I mean it was a hard job and it meant I was away from Ginny a lot, but before we got together it was all I really had and I used to enjoy searching out people and capturing them, knowing I was doing something good for the world. I suppose that's what I miss the most, I always was destined to beat the bad guys!" the two wizards chuckled at each 

other before Harry continued. "I do wonder occasionally if I made the right decision in leaving, and I know Ginny wonders about it all the time, she's glad I'm here and I'm safe but she often blames herself for me giving it all up."

"But surely she knows that's not true...is it?" Charlie asked cautiously.

"Partly, but not because she made me feel I had to, she'd never have done that. It was a mix really but after what happened could you really blame me for leaving? I still feel so guilty that I missed James' birth and in fact everything about James up until he was a month old, they took that away from me, if Abery had been able to come out and tell them that I had been taken they could have found me and brought me back home. I know it was all Drindle really so I can't blame the rest of the Ministry and there have been a lot of changes since he was sacked. I know Abery will strive to make more changes and nothing like that will ever happen while he's in charge."

"You're right, he's a good man, he'll do a lot of good in that office, but does Ginny really blame herself for you giving it all up?"

"I think deep down she does, I have never regretted it for one second and have never made her think it was because of her, it was as much for me too and my family. But sometimes she will mention it and I can see in her eyes she feels a little guilty, I've always tried to reassure her, even to the point of starting an argument on occasion but you know what Ginny's like! Though I know that also deep down she's glad I gave it up too, much as she feels guilty about it I don't think she'd be very happy if I went back to it either!"

"That's women for you!" Charlie chuckled.

"What's, women for you?" said a soft voice behind Harry as his wife reappeared at his side, "What are you two whispering about?" she eyed them suspiciously and Charlie coughed.

"Nothing important, just man banter about women!" Harry placated as her hands ran around his neck from behind and she kissed the side of his head.

"And what would Charlie know about women?" she asked humorously, "I've barely ever seen him with a woman, they don't get a look in for all the dragons!"

"Hey, little sister, you got a look in for a while, I gave the dragons up for you to live here!" Harry looked guiltily at him and Charlie continued, "Not that I didn't love every minute of it and take that guilty look off your face Harry, I did it because I wanted to!"

"Well wasn't I the lucky one? But I don't count as a woman to you!"

"You do after living with you for nine months, and a hormonal charged nine months at that! I know exactly what Harry means!" he goaded and Harry's face contorted knowing that if Charlie carried on he would end up on the sore end of Ginny's temper and being that her hands were around his neck already she could begin right now.

"What have you been saying about me?" she asked squeezing Harry's neck a little tighter.

"He's just been making me sick telling me what a wonderful wife you are and how living with you is the most fantastic thing in the world because you are so easy to live with, I was just disagreeing!" Her grip loosened on Harry's neck as she made to aim a slap in Charlie's direction but Harry grabbed her wrists gently and pulled her onto his knee as Charlie jumped up and headed for the fireplace, "I think this is as good a time as any to vacate! I'll see you at the ball on Saturday, goodbye Princess," he added dropping a soft kiss on Lily's cheek before jumping into the fireplace and spinning away from Grimmauld place, he just managed to catch a glimpse of the blazing Weasley look in his sister's eyes, very reminiscent of the ones his mother had given him during his childhood, before he disappeared.

"What have you been talking about?" she asked turning the same blazing eyes to her husband.

"Just Abery being made head of the auror office and how he deserved it, Charlie was just trying to wind you up as he usually does!" Harry leaned up and placed a gentle kiss on his wife's lips then pulled his head back to watch the blazing look in her eyes melt at his touch. "What have you done with the boys?"

"Banished to their separate rooms for the afternoon, with Kreacher on guard because I know what they are like, five minutes and they'll be sneaking off to find each other. I've left James with some work to do too seeing as he caused the argument, he is the sorest loser I have ever known."

"Must be a Weasley trait!" Harry guffawed.

"Hey!" Ginny replied indignantly, "The boys are feisty that's all."

"Yes, definitely Weasleys!" Harry continued, "But this one here," he indicated their daughter still playing quietly with her dolls on the rug in front of the fire, "She's all Potter, quiet, calm, peaceful, keeps herself to herself and doesn't cause anyone any trouble."

"Oh Potter's never cause trouble? You were never in trouble at school?"

"Well..." they chuckled at each other again, "Not like Albus and James will!"

"Hmmm, I think James gets his troublesomeness from his name, somehow he inherited the traits of your Dad and Sirius, I can definitely see a twinkle of Sirius in him when he's in trouble."

"I agree with you there, I think they'd be happy with that!"

"They haven't got to deal with it, that's why!"

"Well Lily must be all my mother then, hopefully without any Luna traits," he added in a whisper.

"Harry," Ginny chided hitting him on the arm. They were interrupted by Kreacher opening the door with a wizened hand, his huge, bulbous eyes appeared around it and he looked worried as he always did when he needed to interrupt, "Excuse me Mr Potter, Mrs Potter but the young master James has left his room."

"That's it," Ginny screeched jumping from Harry's knee and heading to the door, "I'm locking him in! How did my mother ever manage with so many of us, especially when they were mostly boys! What I said about another one the other week, forget it!" She flounced out of the room and Harry heard every step fall on the stairs as she ascended them, he pitied James and the wrath of Ginny Potter he was going to get, he never told her but she was as scary as her own mother when she was mad. Harry rose from his chair and climbed down onto the rug with his daughter, she looked up at him immediately and gave him a doll to play with.

"Who's this then?" he asked.

"Luna, she's a fabulous witch who has been taken by a bad man and hidden in a tower, we've got to save her from the bad man and bring her back to her friends."

"Okay, I can beat the bad man," he replied thinking wistfully for a moment of the days when he was out there doing just that, but then he turned to his beautiful daughter and remembered why he had given it all up.

He continued to play with his daughter and her doll game for the rest of the afternoon, revelling in the ease of his life and the wondrousness that was his family.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ginevra Potter entered the living room, a vision in pale blue, on the night of the Ministry ball. Harry was clothed in smart, black dress robes with a bow tie and white shirt.

"You look beautiful," he whispered to his wife as she stepped towards him, the dress she wore was satin, it clung to her upper body and hips showing every curve she possessed, it was open at the back and fastened around her neck with two long satin ribbons, the ends of which hung down her bare back. The skirt fell to the floor from her hips in soft folds and covered the silver sandals which she wore beneath it. She had curled her hair up in a neat chignon with a few wispy tendrils falling around her face, Harry looked once more at the stunning woman who was his wife and had to shake himself to remember that it was all real and not a dream.

"You look very handsome yourself, Harry," she replied softly as she took his arm and they made their way to the kitchen together. James, Albus and Lily were at the Burrow with their grandparents who were also looking after Rose and Hugo while Ron and Hermione attended the ball in honour of Abery.

"Ready?" Harry asked taking in the vision in front of him once more, "Floo or apparate?"

"Apparate the both of us?" she asked gently loving it when they did that, it reminded her of the day they had finally admitted their feelings for each other and Harry had had to apparate her because she was sure she would have splinched herself if she'd had to do it alone.

"Of course," he replied taking the slim woman in his arms, his hands slid around her bare back and she shuddered at his touch, leaning into his chest she took a deep breath, drinking in the aroma of her husband and he placed his head on top of hers and sighed. "That dress is amazing Ginny, but all I want to do is take it off!"

"Later Harry," she chuckled wrapping her arms around him and holding on tight, after a familiar squeezing sensation the pair of them found themselves standing in the entrance to a large hall at the Ministry of Magic. Many other well dressed witches and wizards were appearing in different places around the room and from the multiple fireplaces which surrounded it, soft music drifted through two tall, oak doors and they could see hundreds of people milling around in the room, some were dancing, others were chatting and yet more were sat at large, round tables. Smartly dressed waiter-wizards were weaving between people carrying tall flutes of champagne, Harry took two glasses as one of them passed by and gave a glass to his wife.

"Harry, Ginny," called a familiar voice behind them and they both turned to see Charlie approaching with a rather exotic looking witch on his arm. She had darkly tanned skin and long, almost black hair, part of it had been pulled back into a loose bun on the top of her head but a great length of it fell almost to her waist. She was dressed in a strapless, silver dress with a bodice which laced up at the front, a gentle A-line skirt fell away from the bottom of the bodice falling to her feet finishing just above a pair of delicate silver sandals. "This is Kristina," he said, "Kristina this is my sister Ginny and her husband Harry Potter."

"Ah, Harry Potter, an honour to meet you," she offered her hand to him and he kissed it, "And Ginny, Charlie never stops talking about you," she smiled at the red head who returned it before looking in confusion in the direction of her brother, she would have liked to say the same about her but they had never been told about Kristina so she simply replied, "Nice to meet you too."

"Kristina is from Italy," Charlie explained, "We work together in Romania and we've sort of been seeing each other for a while now so I thought maybe it was time you met." At that moment Ron and Hermione apparated into the room and spotted the foursome chatting, in his usual aloof way Ron interrupted the conversation with a tactful, "Who's the date Charlie? Never knew you had a thing for girls!"

"Honestly Ron," came Hermione's voice from next to him, "Good evening," she continued directing her gaze at Kristina, "I am Hermione Weasley, Charlie's sister-in-law, and this buffoon is his youngest brother Ron."

"Nice to meet you both," she replied offering her hand to Ron, who shook it heartily and earned another reproachful stare from Hermione. "I am Kristina, Charlie and I work together in Romania, I have so been looking forward to meeting his family, they sound very large. I am an only child and have never been part of a big family."

"Neither were Harry or I until we married into this one!" Hermione chuckled.

"And once you are in, there's no getting out," Harry added, "Not that I'd want to," he added quickly looking at his wife who smiled at him.

"Shall we go in then?" Charlie asked as he took Kristina's arm, Ginny and Hermione entered into a conversation about Ron's lack of decorum as they followed the couple through the doorway leaving Harry and Ron to make their way through together, "What did I do?" Ron asked seriously and Harry just shook his head, "You were completely yourself Ron," he chuckled at the confused look on the red-head's face before gesturing for him to walk through the door. They spotted Abery in the middle of the room, surrounded by Ministry officials, they waved at him and he nodded back at them, they would wait until he was less busy before approaching him to congratulate the man on his new post. Instead they followed their wives to the table they had been seated at and sat down, it was at this point that Ron noticed people dancing and groaned, he was not a very god dancer but knew Hermione would expect him to get up at least a few times. "Why does there always have to be a dance at these things? Why can't it just be a good meal and some drinks with speeches and then home? There's always a band and some dancing." Harry chuckled at him, he had once been of the same opinion as Ron but since he had been with Ginny his attitude towards dancing had changed, now he liked nothing more than holding the love of his life in his arms and spinning her around a dance floor, the meal would be nice and the speeches appropriate but he always looked forward to having his wife to himself on the floor and making her smile.

"You just need more practise!"

"Thanks mate, that's helpful!"

"Harry, shall we dance?" Ginny asked and he rose eagerly from his seat, glancing back at his best friend who was scowling at him he took his wife by the hand and led her to the floor, sliding one hand around her bare back and taking her hand in the other he began to spin her around, holding her close and enjoying the feel of her in his arms. Charlie and Kristina joined them a few minutes later leaving an even more disgruntled looking Ron at the table with Hermione.

Half and hour later a gong sounded and everyone returned to their seats for the meal, this put a smile on Ron's face and he momentarily forgot about his need to dance as he stuffed his face with the sumptuous five course meal they were presented with. By the time the chocolate profiteroles arrived for dessert Harry was full to almost bursting and barely finished them, Ginny had eaten sensibly, leaving a little of each course and was now comfortably full, Hermione and Kristina had followed suit but Ron being the eater that he was had wolfed down their leftovers so he now sat in his chair looking rather green and unable to actually eat his dessert. Hermione had grumbled at him and the rest of the group knew an argument was imminent, they tried to deflect it with conversation, which worked, but they knew Hermione was simply saving it for when they were alone. More champagne was poured for each guest as Kingsley Shaklebolt rose from his seat and headed to a large platform erected at the front of the room.

"Ladies and Gentleman," boomed his deep, Jamaican voice from the podium, "Thank you all for coming tonight, I know it means a great deal to Simon Abery and his family that you came to celebrate his achievement." A clap resounded round the room and died quickly to allow Kingsley to continue. "Simon Abery has been an auror at the Ministry for almost fifteen years, he has undertaken many dangerous missions, including one which almost cost him his life and that of another highly important auror. I am ashamed to say that a cover up meant that I was unaware of this until Abery and the said auror managed to bring themselves back from a dangerous situation, with the help of their faithful friends and family." Hermione and the Weasley siblings sat at the table all looked at each other, "It was at this time that the head of the auror office was asked to leave and I asked our own Harry Potter if he would take the position, unfortunately he turned me down, for which I cannot blame him. Simon Abery returned to the auror office when he was fit enough and since that moment has worked closely with the current head of the auror office, Malcolm Thwart, who has worked tirelessly to make changes in the office which were long overdue. Abery has been Malcolm's right hand man every step of the way, for that reason it was only natural that when Malcolm announced his plans to retire the only person fit to take over from him was Simon Abery. Together the two of them have revolutionised the auror department into an efficient and organised place, something it was in desperate need of when Thwart took the place nine years ago. I believe that Abery will continue to take the auror department to new heights in his post as head of the office so Ladies and Gentlemen can I ask you to please raise your glasses and toast the appointment of Simon Abery." Kingsley raised his glass and the air was rent with the sounds of clinking glasses and calls of, "Simon Abery." Everyone applauded as the Minister left the podium and Abery took to the stand.

"Thank you Kingsley," he began nodding in the Minister's direction "and thank you all again for coming tonight, I'm not really one for fuss but it's heart warming to see so many important people here to support me. It's true that I would have left the office when Harry did after the mission we were involved in went disastrously wrong , I had lost all confidence in the Ministry at the time and I could not blame Harry for turning down the position. I did however see that it was not the fault of the ministry and that if I didn't try to initiate some changes then it could happen to someone else again someday, accepting the post of assistant to the head of department meant I could instigate some changes and I am proud of the auror department that has arisen under the directorship of Malcolm Thwart. His retirement will be as big a loss to the department as that of Harry Potter many years ago, but I will strive to be as good a leader as he was and continue to develop the office as a whole while instilling the confidence in you all that we will still be there to catch the dark wizards who, unfortunately, are still at large in our world." Another round of applause broke out around the room and many faces turned to look at Harry, he hated the attention that his fame often afforded him and remembered on these occasions why he liked to stay hidden at home with his family and out of the public eye. He nodded at a few people most of whom were in agreement that losing Harry as an auror had been hard, but he avoided their gaze as much as possible, Thwart had tried on numerous occasions to get Harry back in the department but Harry was aware that this would not have gone down very well with his wife. The attention turned back to Abery who was toasting his predecessor and everyone rose from their seats to clink their glasses again and resound, "Malcolm Thwart," the man in question rose from his seat to take a bow and then everyone returned to their own conversations.

The night continued with more dancing and drinking and they eventually had the opportunity to speak with Abery themselves, he approached their table shortly before midnight, looking exhausted, and he took a seat on Harry's left.

"Great speech man," Ron said shaking his hand.

"You did well up there," Charlie reiterated shaking the man's hand as well, "And thanks for inviting us!"

"Thanks for coming, if it wasn't for you three I wouldn't even be here to take the position," he answered taking Hermione and Ginny's hands in turn and kissing them, they smiled back at him. "And who is this Charlie?" he indicated Kristina who had her hand on Charlie's shoulder, "A real lady and not a dragon?" he chuckled, "No offence to you," he looked at Kristina who was looking slightly perturbed by his comment, "I just mean Mr Weasley here is well known for the time he spends with dragons, it's very strange when a lady gets a look in!"

"I am Kristina," she offered her hand which he kissed graciously, "I work in Romania with Charlie and I can see the beauty he sees in every dragon Mr Abery," she smiled at him.

"Ahh, now it makes sense!" he returned, "Another dragon nut won't get jealous of dragons!" The table laughed at him as Charlie pretended to pout, Kristina saw the joke and laughed along with them so he relaxed a little and allowed the conversation to continue.

"You look exhausted mate, is that the job or just tonight?" Harry asked.

"Both!"

"I got out at the right time then!" Harry joked, "Mind you I doubt it would be as tiring as looking after three young Potters! Honestly some days I long for the easy days of chasing dark wizards and fighting." Ginny eyed him suspiciously and he shook his head at her gently.

"We'd have you back any day mate," Abery said.

"I don't think my life would be worth living!" he indicated Ginny who blushed furiously when Abery caught her eye, she hated to think she was the reason that Harry had left his job, but she was also glad that he was not working in such a dangerous occupation anymore and would not be happy if he decided to return to it. Charlie and Kristina excused themselves to dance as Abery rose to leave the table, "I'd better do another round of the room, don't leave without me seeing you again Harry." He looked pointedly in his direction before leaving the table.

"Ronald, I think it's time you took me for a turn on the dance floor," Ginny suggested to a very bemused looking Ron.

"But I...don't."

"Oh get over yourself, how will you ever get better if you don't practise? Harry can take Hermione, let her see what it feels like to dance with someone who can actually do it for a change!" Ron looked helplessly at Harry as his sister grabbed his hand and yanked him forwards, Harry looked amusedly at him and then offered his hand to his other best friend who took it willingly obviously glad of the opportunity to dance properly for once. The four of them joined Charlie and Kristina on the dance floor, Ron only stood on Ginny's foot a few times and she managed to keep her anger in check for a short while but soon grew impatient and could take it no longer, she returned to her seat insisting that Harry and Hermione continue while she berated her brother in true Weasley woman style. They cringed as they saw Ron trying to get a word in, "Poor Ron, you two never take it easy in him do you?"

"Cheers Harry, I'm not that hard on him!"

"That's not what he tells me!" They laughed and continued to dance for a while before Hermione saw a colleague from SPEW and left Harry to chat with her, he weaved his way through the dance floor to the toilets and his wife watched him go revelling in how handsome he was and knowing that in a few short hours she would be able to rip those robes off him and see the muscular body underneath it. She was interrupted as Charlie approached the table with a tired looking Kristina, "I need a break," she said breathlessly, "This man can dance!"

"Oh rub it in why don't you," Ron said indignantly, "Am I the only Weasley who can't do it?"

"Yes," the other two siblings replied in unison, "You're the only one who's not a gentleman," Charlie added chuckling and then he offered his hand to his sister, "Ginny while I allow Kristina a short break would you care to dance with a real Weasley brother?" they looked at Ron who was scowling back at them and giggled as Ginny rose from her seat and followed Charlie back onto the dance floor.

"You look happy tonight sister dear and I must say the dress is beautiful, I forget what a handsome couple you and Harry make."

"Thank you Charlie," she replied, "Kristina seems nice, how come you have never mentioned her before?"

"I told you last week I was bringing a date."

"Well yes but we didn't know if you meant it and that's not exactly telling us about her either is it? Are you serious?"

"Ginevra my dear, I do not get serious with a woman, she is pleasant and we work well together, we shall see where it goes."

"Pleasant, what a wonderful way to describe her!" she said sarcastically and he playfully knocked her arm.

They continued dancing for a while longer until Ginny too was tiring and they left the dance floor so she could search out her husband. He wasn't at the table with Ron, Hermione and Kristina and when she asked none of them had seen him since he had danced with Hermione, "He probably found some old friends from the ministry, I'll go and look for him," she said as Charlie suggested he and Kristina leave, Ginny kissed them both on the cheek and bade them goodnight saying that she hoped to see more of Kristina in the future, something which earned her a glare from her elder brother, then she set off across the room.

It took her a while to find him, as she made her way through the room she met up with old colleagues from St Mungos and even came across Dean Thomas whom she had not known was even at the ball. He spotted her and the usual embarrassed expression crossed his face, it had been many years now since he had tried to kiss Ginny Potter when he had thought she was widowed and though she had repeatedly told him to stop being silly he had avoided her as much as he could and Harry even more so. The boy had been doubly mortified about his behaviour when Harry had returned and worried constantly whenever he came into contact with either of the Potters, he did not know if Ginny had told him about their encounter on the stairs at Grimmauld Place but he always held his breath in anticipation, even after all this time. Shortly after his return Dean had run into Harry in Diagon Alley and had been unable to avoid talking to him, Harry had approached him and shook his hand, thanking him for being there for Ginny when James was born. Dean was sure he had seen a tinge of jealousy in the green eyed wizard when he spoke and Dean had hastily finished the conversation and left before he could find out. "Dean," Ginny said reaching up to kiss his cheek in a friendly way, "What are you doing here? I haven't seen you all night."

"I'm here with Jenny Wiler, she's an auror who works with Abery, we've been seeing each other for a while and she asked me to accompany her tonight." He looked uncomfortably at his feet and Ginny sighed, she hated the way he acted around her now and wished she could obliterate the memory of that night from his mind so he would move past it like she had. "How is James?" Dean asked, as he always did, "And Albus and Lily of course."

"Troublesome! Well the boys are anyway!" she chuckled at him and Dean returned an awkward smile, "Have you seen Harry at all? I think I'm ready to leave, it's been a long night!"

"Isn't that him over there talking to Abery and Shaklebolt?" he pointed with his finger over Ginny's shoulder and she turned to see them ensconced in a corner deep in conversation, "He's been there for a while now, Jenny was waiting to speak to Abery before we left too but she didn't want to interrupt, we've been waiting half an hour, it must be a good conversation."

"Probably regaling the Minister with tales of their successful missions! I'll go and drag my husband away and then Jenny can get a look in too! Nice to see you again Dean," she kissed his cheek again and he stiffened uncomfortably but she didn't notice, nodding at the tall, young woman who had just approached Dean's side she turned and left heading in the direction of her husband. As she approached their conversation ended and she asked playfully, "Am I interrupting something important?" Harry coughed a little before answering, "No, Abery just wanted me to pop into the office in a few days and look through some things with him, just wanting a bit of advice!"

"As long as that's all he wants," she replied eying them all suspiciously, "Are you ready to go darling? I'm almost dead on my feet," she yawned and then whispered in his ear, "And looking forward to a night without the kids!" Harry blushed slightly and then excused himself.

"I shall see you on Monday then Abery," he shook the auror's hand and then turned to the Minister, "Kingsley," he added shaking his hand too and then he turned back to his wife and offered her his arm, "Shall we?"

After bidding goodnight to Ron and Hermione who were about to leave too, they walked back into the entrance hall where Harry placed his arms around his beautiful wife again and apparated them straight to their bedroom in Grimmauld Place, he loosened his hold on Ginny but she tightened her hold on him so he slipped his hands inside the back of her dress and ran them down to her bottom, "This dress is amazing Gin," he whispered huskily and she giggled into his chest, she began to undo his bow tie and let it fall to the floor as she unbuttoned his white shirt, she slipped her hands inside it and pulled it out of his trousers before kissing his chest seductively. Harry's hands slid up to the ribbons tied at the back of her neck, undoing the bow he let the material fall as he stepped away from her and the dress fell to the floor in a single shimmering move, standing before him in white lacy knickers and diamante, stiletto heels stood his gorgeous wife looking at him coyly but enjoying his gaze on her body.

She removed his cloak and shirt quickly so he was wearing only his trousers and then pushed him gently into a sitting position on the end of the bed, positioning herself astride him on her knees she leaned forwards to kiss him gently and he moaned as her tongue explored his mouth, their fingers entwined as the kiss deepened and then Ginny pulled her head back as Harry began to explore her body with his tongue, kissing the flesh on her neck and around her breasts. She pushed him backwards onto the bed and stood up to remove his trousers and underwear, she could see immediately how much he wanted her and she refused him nothing, removing her own underwear but leaving the heels on she lowered herself onto him as he stretched out on their bed and moaned deeply, moving sensuously they both pleasured each other before Ginny collapsed on top of Harry, she trailed kisses along his shoulder as he ran his fingernails up and down her bare back and they waited for their heartbeats to regulate.

"I think the kids should stay at the Burrow overnight more often," Harry murmured in her ear and Ginny breathed softly, "Have we...?" he asked remembering what she had said about more children.

"Don't worry, I performed the charm we're safe!" they giggled at each other and then climbed into bed and snuggled deep into the covers enjoying knowing that they were alone for a while, a luxury they rarely had in their own home. They were asleep within minutes of their heads hitting the pillows and they both slept peacefully until morning, waking within minutes of each other and remembering instantly that they still had the place to themselves for a few hours until they collected the children at lunchtime, making the most of the rarity they spent the rest of the morning in bed enjoying multiple repeat performances of the previous night and rising shortly before noon to ready themselves for a large Sunday lunch at the Burrow.


	4. Chapter 4

**Well, this story is well under way now and I've almost finished it! Thank you to my reviewers so far, it's nice to know people still like my stories. I appear to have made a slight error in the age gap between Albus and Lily for which I apologise, I won't change it all now as it is not integral in my storyline but thanks for letting me know! Also Kristina is not the muggle, she works with the dragons and is a fully fledged witch with a small part in the story, sorry try again!**

**Anywho - read and review cheers!!**

Chapter 4

Sunday lunch at the Burrow was the usual chaotic affair that the Weasleys and their extended family were used to, the children ran around the kitchen getting under Molly's feet which resulted in her shouting and screaming until George had the good sense to take them all outside to play in the garden. Ginny helped her Mum to prepare the dinner while Harry and Charlie chatted outside by the river about the ball the night before, Kristina had not joined them for dinner and Harry was using her absence and their chance of being alone to prise any information he could out of Charlie. "Looked like you and Kristina were getting on well last night," he said raising his eyebrow, "Anything we should be watching out for?"

"If you mean anything gold that fits on a finger then you're barking up the wrong tree mate!"

"Well you can't blame me for suggesting, she is the first girl we've ever really seen you with, I think most of your brothers had you nailed on gay mate! All except for Bill anyway, he always seemed to stick up for you!"

"Yeah well, poor Bill has had the pleasure of finding me in a few uncompromising positions with those of the fairer sex, we did share a flat briefly before I got posted out to Romania." Harry guffawed at the comment and Charlie joined him. "I just thought it would be nice to bring someone along last night, I mean I usually end up going to these things alone and felt like a change since I was seeing someone."

"So is it going anywhere serious then?"

"I make no promises, to her or anyone else, I'm not really the serious type when it comes to women, they always know that so no one gets hurt, maybe one day there'll be someone who steals my heart but I don't think it will be Kristina, and she knows that! We're not all the settle down family type like you are Harry, all these brats put me off that!" he chuckled as Harry's eldest son went running past being chased by Rose who had a face of thunder, James had obviously done something to set her off and they knew it wouldn't end well.

"James Sirius Potter, I hate you!" she screeched after him and Harry rolled his eyes before taking off after his son to sort out the situation.

"He's definitely got some Sirius in him that boy," Charlie called after him.

James reached a tree by the lake before Rose had caught up with him and he climbed it deftly, by the time Harry reached them Rose was stomping about beneath it shouting, "You can't stay up there all day James!" to which the young boy replied, "I'll stay here as long as I like, you're just too scared to climb up here and get me!" Harry could see Rose's face growing more purple by the minute and she was beginning to resemble her mother when she was in the same mood. He chuckled as he remembered the number of times that same face had frowned down upon him and Ron in their school days, and after them for a matter of fact, and he genuinely felt sympathy for his son who was at the receiving end of it today. However he also realised that James had probably done something to deserve it he knew that his son was by no means an angel.

"What's going on here?" he asked as he leaned against the tree and towered over Rose.

"Uncle Harry, James said I wasn't good enough to play quidditch with them, he said girls couldn't play just because Victoire didn't want to and the rest of them are stupid boys," her voice rose at these last words and it threatened to crack, "He'd never dare tell Victoire that she couldn't play because she was a girl."

"I would too!" James called from the tree, but Harry knew perfectly well that Rose was right in this situation James Potter would order anyone about in the Weasley family, except for Victoire. She was older than James by almost four years and already in school at Hogwarts, but even when she was younger she had always had that air about her that came from the Delacours. While she would never boss any of the younger children around she would never be bossed by any of them either and they were all unconsciously aware that she was not to be messed with. "No you wouldn't young man," Harry called up into the tree, "And you know it, now get down here and apologise to your cousin, girls can play quidditch just as well as boys can James Potter. And if I were you I'd make sure you never let your mother hear you saying that, she was a fantastic chaser and seeker on the Griffindor team in Hogwarts and she could outfly most of her brothers too." A triumphant smile began to spread across Rose's face as a sullen looking James descended from the tree looking guiltily at his father, she again reminded him of Hermione when she was right and she knew it and realised that James was never going to be right when it came to Rose Weasley, she was her mother through and through.

"Sorry Rose," he said hastily looking at his father who chuckled at their childishness.

"Now maybe you should get back to the garden, if a game of quidditch was in the offing my guess is that George has already decided the teams and taken everyone else down to the field, get a move on or you'll both be spectators!" The two children looked at each other aghast and James set off at lightening speed back in the direction they had come from screaming, "Bet I beat you Rose!" An indignant snort from her signalled that another argument might ensue when they reached the quidditch field but Harry decided he would let George deal with that, he was still the king of practical jokes and Harry was sure he would have something up his sleeve to teach the boy a lesson. Sure enough when the children arrived at the table for lunch James was sporting a fake black eye and Rose was looking ecstatic, "James go t back first and George gave him a prize for racing but it was a box with a fake punch in it and it got him!" she then began to roll around with laughter and James looked suitably unimpressed, especially when the other Weasley's joined in, but it shut him up anyway.

"George," Ginny scolded softly, "You'd better give me something to get rid of that, he's not walking around with a black eye for the rest of his days," James suddenly looked horrified and George began to chuckle at his expression.

"It'll teach him not to tease the girls, everytime he looks at it he'll remember!"

"I can't walk around like this forever, I...I..."

"Don't worry mate," Ron whispered leaning over to James' left ear, "It'll wear off in a few days, Hugo found one in the storeroom at the shop once and it got him too, lasted about a week I think." A look of relief crossed the elder Potter boy's face but he still seemed quite agitated that he might have to sport it for another seven days.

A sumptuous meal of Roast beef, vegetables and Yorkshire pudding was followed up with pumpkin pie and custard which rendered every member of the family incapable of doing anything for the rest of the afternoon apart from lounging around in the garden. Even the children found it difficult to keep going and most of them enjoyed an afternoon nap under the shade of a large willow tree near the bank of the river. Victoire, who had brought some of her holiday school work with her, volunteered to watch them all while the adults enjoyed a lazy afternoon in the mid spring sunshine. After an hour's rest Harry and Ginny took a leisurely walk along the riverbank at the end of the Burrow's garden sauntering hand in hand they enjoyed the peacefulness of their surroundings without talking to each other and disturbing the tranquil air.

They reached the loveseat at the bottom of the Lovegood land and stopped to rest for a while remembering how they had finally admitted their feelings for one another in the very same spot, "Can you believe it is almost twelve years since Luna and Neville's wedding?" Harry asked and Ginny shook her head, "The best day of my life," he added sheepishly and Ginny began to blush. "I can still remember kissing you on that dance floor and thinking you were only doing it to make Colin jealous! Holding you in my arms that day and dancing with you was what changed my opinion of dancing forever, I keep trying to tell Ron, that dancing with the woman you love is the most magical thing but he just keeps calling me a girl!" Ginny chuckled at him and rolled her eyes.

"How Hermione puts up with him, I'll never know," she said. "I remember you finding me here and sitting down so close to me, I wanted to run, embarrassed by what you had heard me say, but something made me stay, I think I was enjoying being so close to you!"

"When I heard you say those things about me I thought I was dreaming! Imagine if I had never overheard you, my life would be so empty."

"Harry," Ginny said softly.

"It's true, you are my whole world Ginny, you and the children, I never ever dreamed I would have such a perfect and happy life but you...you gave me one, and without it I don't know if I would have survived."

"Harry, what's gotten into you? You sound like you're leaving or something!" she said a slightly nervous tinge to her voice as she realised what she was saying.

"Don't be silly Gin, I just wanted to tell you, that's...that's all," he leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips and she felt that familiar tingle in her stomach that Harry still gave her when he touched her in any way. As they pulled apart Ginny asked softly, "Do you ever regret leaving the Ministry?" Harry looked away guiltily. "You looked happy to be among the aurors again last night and I thought to myself that once there would have been one in honour of you, if you hadn't turned it down...for me," she added quietly looking down at her knees.

"Ginny, please stop blaming yourself, I didn't leave the Ministry because of you, well not in the way you think I did, I left for both of us, for me and James just as much as for you. I left because I wanted this perfect life that we have, it was almost snatched away from me and..." he drifted off and turned to look at the river. "But I won't lie to you Gin, I do miss it sometimes, I was telling Charlie the other day, being out there fighting the good fight and getting the bad guys, but for all that I miss it occasionally I have never ever regretted my decision to leave and be with you and the children." He reached out and lifted her chin so she had to look into his eyes, he saw worry in hers, that slight pang of guilt she carried around with her about him leaving the Ministry, one he could never quite eradicate no matter how hard he tried. "Besides, even if I did regret it, you wouldn't let me go back would you?" he chuckled to let her know he was being humorous nevertheless she nodded guiltily and the pang in her eyes intensified. "Ginny Potter, I love you," he said grinning from ear to ear and placing a kiss on her lips again, she responded to his touch and they stayed as they were for a few minutes both thinking of the first time they had kissed on that loveseat many years ago.

Eventually Harry stood up and offered Ginny his hand, "We'd better get back and take those kids back home before James and Rose have another argument, honesty they are just like Ron and Hermione used to be, I'm just waiting for the day she comes out with 'honestly James'!" They both laughed heartily as they made their way back along the riverbank to the Burrow once again holding hands and enjoying that rare luxury of being alone. Sure enough when they reached the Burrow an argument was in full swing between Rose and James but this time Hermione was trying to diffuse the situation and Rose was wearing a rather disgruntled look. Harry and Ginny quickly whisked their children away from the group and waved goodbye to the rest of the family before trooping into the Burrow's kitchen and flooing back to Grimmauld place, Ginny with James and Albus, one in each hand, and Harry with his daughter in his arms.

Later that night after the children had been put to bed and Harry and Ginny were enjoying a little time alone she asked, "Why does Abery want you to go in to the Ministry tomorrow?"

"He didn't really say, just wanted my advice on something with a case that has just come up, needed a few ideas on how to deal with it, he did mention horcruxes and I suppose as he knows I have dealt with them before he probably wants to know anything I can tell him about destroying them." Ginny nodded at him but she felt a slight nervous flutter in her stomach, he had not been in to the auror office once, to her knowledge, since he had turned down the post of head and retired and after their conversation of earlier that day she felt justified in being a little afraid that he would want to return. She didn't share her fears with Harry as she didn't want to stop him from going to see Abery, whatever her worries about Harry going back she could not halt any progress that could be made using her husband's knowledge, he had after all defeated one of the most notorious dark 

wizards of all time. Her stomach still contained butterflies when they went to bed shortly before eleven, Harry sensed that something was wrong but after coaxing her once or twice and getting nothing he relented and placed an arm around her as he drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Ginny's sleep was anything but peaceful, she was haunted by dreams of losing Harry to a dark wizard in a dual on behalf of the Ministry she tossed and turned, waking often ,and rose early the next morning getting the children ready before Harry had even stirred.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The alerts went off in the hallway letting the residents of Grimmauld Place know that Harry had returned home from the Ministry, the pounding on the stairs told Ginny that her sons were greeting their father in the hallway, she stayed seated in the living room with Lily where she had been for most of the afternoon since Harry had gone. She had attempted to read a few times but had been unable to concentrate long enough to take in what was in front of her, then she had tried to play with Lily, something which had distracted her for a short time but her mind always came back to her worry that Harry would realise just how much he was missing his job and go back to work for Abery.

The boys were talking animatedly to their father when they all entered the room, they were fascinated by the Ministry because they had never visited it and had been amazed when they had first learned their father had once worked there, they didn't understand much about the job he had done there as they had decided not to go into too much detail about Harry's defeat of Voldemort or his part in the capture and punishment of other witches and wizards. "It's not all that exciting you know boys, just lots of offices with lots of work to be done." They looked unimpressed by his response but Ginny could also tell by the looks on their faces that they didn't really believe him, Harry sent them off into the corner toybox to find a game to play with while he sat on the sofa next to his wife, she smiled at him as best she could but it was becoming increasingly more difficult for her to hide how she was feeling.

He put his hand on her knee and smiled at her, "You think I want to go back don't you?" he whispered in her ear, her cheeks turned red almost instantaneously and she looked coyly at her hands in her lap. "You think I'd give up all this," he gestured to the children playing now playing gobstones together in front of the fire, "To work full time for the Ministry again when I don't need to?" She slowly raised her eyes to meet his and he saw that guilt in them again, "Gin, please stop doing this to yourself," he pleaded, "Or I'll go back just to make you happy." She opened her mouth to protest but he silenced her with a kiss interrupted seconds later by James screaming, "Albus!" he had lost the game, again. "See, I have enough bad guys here to keep me going!" Harry chuckled rising to sort out his son's argument. Ginny watched on as he got on the floor to join in the game and try to mediate with them, he included Lily too teaching her how to throw the stones properly so she didn't always lose. Her stomach began to feel a little easier as she watched him play, she realised she had been stupid to think that Harry would want to go back to work, he had made his feelings clear over and over to her and she had to stop feeling guilty about it because she could see it was starting to make him feel bad too, he was happy where he was, hadn't he told her that a million times in the last nine years?

Ginny left them to play together in the living room while she started dinner in the kitchen constantly berating herself for having been so silly in the last few hours, she was beginning to feel the effects of her sleepless night too and longed for the evening to come to an end so she could settle down and get a good night's rest.

The following morning breakfast was disturbed by a rare sound in the hallway, that of muggle post landing on the mat. As the house was hidden from both muggles and wizards alike post could not be delivered in the conventional way. It wasn't often that wizards received muggle post but it was not uncommon, many houses were in muggle areas where no one knew who they were and the postman could deliver anything that might be sent to them. In the case of Grimmauld Place all muggle mail directed at them would be sorted at the general post office and given to the postman who delivered to the rest of the street, upon passing the place where number twelve should be the mail would automatically make its way to the doorway and post itself through the letterbox. As it happens in the last ten years that they had lived there they had only ever had three pieces of muggle post, all of which were Christmas cards from Hermione's parents so it was with slight confusion that Ginny made her way to the front door wondering what on earth it could be.

Laid on the mat was an official looking document stamped with the name of Boyd, Wicklow and Grey Solicitors, Eastern Road, London, she picked up the envelope which was addressed to Harry and carried it back to the kitchen table where four pairs of eyes were staring back at her. Lily had never seen post arrive in this way before as she had been only a baby when the Christmas cards arrived, though she had been told about the muggle form of mail delivery as Ginny and Harry had decided to share with them the fact that he and their Aunt Hermione had been brought up as muggles for most of their childhoods.

"What is it?" James asked eagerly while Lily stared in bewilderment at the neat, white envelope in her mother's hand.

"It's for you Harry," Ginny replied, "It's from a solicitor in London," she passed the envelope to him and he turned it over to see the address stamped in one corner and his own address neatly typed out in the middle of it. He could not think why a muggle solicitor might want to contact him so he ripped the envelope open eagerly and withdrew a single sheet of paper from inside.

_Dear Mr Harry Potter,_

_I am writing on behalf of my former clients, Mr and Mrs Vernon Dursley. _

_I regret to inform you of the death of my clients along with their son, Mr Dudley Dursley and daughter-in-law Mrs Danielle Dursley on the 24__th__ of May this year. It is the will of Mr Dudley Dursley that concerns you and I must ask that you attend the reading of it after the funeral of the four deceased on the 30__th__ May this year at one o clock, the funeral will take place in the Parish of Biltern, St Ives. The reading will take place at my offices on Eastern Road in London at four o clock the same afternoon. _

_Please advise me of your intentions to attend the reading as soon as possible._

_I offer my deepest condolences to you and your family._

_Yours sincerely_

_Howard Boyd_

_Boyd, Wicklow and Grey Solicitors_

Harry's face had turned ashen as he looked up from the crisp white paper in his hand and looked at his wife, "What is it?" she asked with concern. Harry turned to the children who were also waiting eagerly, "Go and play in the playroom you three, your Mother and I need to talk."

"But Dad," James whined desperate to know what was contained in the letter from the muggles.

"GO," Harry said authoritatively and the children knew by the tone of his voice that his command was to be obeyed, they trooped from the room, led by a sullen looking James, and made their way up the stairs. Ginny continued to look at her husband anxiously as he put the letter down on the table, "Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, Dudley and his wife they...they're... dead," Ginny gasped in horror and walked to Harry's side.

"But when? How?"

"It doesn't say, just that they are dead." He paused for a moment as Ginny began to rub his shoulder, "I have to go to the reading of the will," another gasp escaped Ginny's mouth, "Well Dudley's will, the letter says that it concerns me. Why would I be in his will? I mean I haven't seen them in such a long time we were miles apart and living completely separate lives, I don't understand."

"You said he showed some appreciation for you when they left Privet Drive that day, for saving his life, maybe he wanted to show it somehow by leaving you something. It's a terrible thing to have happened though, I mean I know they weren't your favourite people but it's still horrible that their lives ended so soon. It must have been some kind of accident if it happened to all of them together." Ginny picked up the letter and read it through as Harry thought about what could have happened to them. "Will you go to the funeral?"

"I...I suppose I should really, I mean I feel that I should and...they were my mother's family and my only living blood relatives. It feels strange to think they are gone, even though I haven't seen them for so long." He sighed deeply and looked round at Ginny, his eyes blinking back the emotion he was feeling. "It sort of makes me wish I had spoken to them, you know when I went there, just said 'hello' asked how they were, I mean it didn't occur to me to actually speak to any of them then, I just wanted to see them but I suppose I always thought that one day I would speak to them again. Now I know I'll never be able to do that." Ginny put her arms around him from behind and hugged him tightly, "I wonder what happened to the boy? It only mentions Dudley and..." he picked the letter back up to read the name of his wife, "Danielle... but nothing about the boy."

"Maybe he wasn't involved," Ginny suggested softly, "Or maybe he survived if he was, you might be able to contact the solicitor before the funeral and find out what happened to them, and the boy."

"Hmm," he nodded then put his head in his hands, Ginny continued to hold him without speaking, "I feel strange," he murmured, "Not like I'm grieving as such but I'm sad and sort of regretful...it's just weird." Ginny hugged him tighter and he wrapped his own arms over hers then gently pulled her down to sit on his knee, holding her in his arms he buried his face in her hair and sighed. They stayed like that for a few minutes before Ginny rose to sort out the rest of her day, she was shopping with her mother in Diagon Alley later and needed to get the children organised.

"I have to get ready to meet Mum, darling," she whispered gently, "But if you want me to stay here I can, she'll understand."

"No don't be silly, you go shopping, I'll be okay," he insisted.

"Are you sure?" Harry nodded his reply. "Okay, I'll go and get the kids ready too," she said heading towards the door.

"Leave the boys if you want to," Harry said quietly, "They're only a pain when you take them shopping, they can keep me company, take my mind off things."

"If you want me to, that would be good really because I need to take Lily for some new shoes, she grows out of them so quickly! If the boys are not hanging around getting bored then We'll be much quicker! But are you sure you'll be okay? If you want some time alone I can cope with them."

"No, I'll be fine. In fact get them all ready and I'll come to Diagon Alley with you, I'll take the boys to Ron and George's, I think an hour in the joke shop might cheer me up a little. You can take Lily for her shoes and do some browsing with your Mum, we could even have dinner at the Leaky Cauldron if you want."

"What's gotten in to you?" she asked jovially, "Are you sure you are up to all this?" Harry stood up and walked over to his wife, putting his arms around her waist he pulled her close and whispered, "Yes, why not? That letter has made me think, none of us are immortal are we? Least of all me with all the danger I've placed myself in! I don't want to sound morbid but we should enjoy ourselves whenever we can, that poor boy, he's going to be like me now isn't he? An orphan living without his Mum and Dad, at least he'll have some memories of them unlike I did but it just makes me think that we need to make sure our kids have good memories of us, just in case..." Ginny looked at him with understanding, it did sound morbid but it sounded sensible too.

"They have good memories of us Harry, but I understand. Come on," she kissed his nose and grinned at him, "Let's get them ready, an hour in the joke shop, the boys will be beside themselves!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The following week Lily Potter watched her father walk into the living room of their home dressed in a strange, black muggle suit, with a white shirt and a dark blue tie. He looked smart and handsome to her but she thought he would have looked even better in his fancy dress robes, her mother followed him into the room wearing a long black dress with a jacket instead of her cloak. Lily had never seen her parents dressed in this way before, she knew they were going out for the day because some of her father's relatives had died, she and her brothers had known that he had some muggle relatives who he had lived with when he was a child and they also knew that he never went to visit them. James had once asked if there were any children as he would like to have a muggle cousin but they had been told that Daddy didn't know because he had not seen them for a very long time. She had wondered then why her father had not seen them for so long, they saw her mother's family all the time and she thought it odd that they had never met her father's.

"Ready, darling?" her mother asked her father who bent down to kiss Lily, she lifted her arms up and out then wrapped them around his neck so he picked her up and hugged her tightly.

"Be a good girl for Grandma won't you Lily?" she nodded her head as she looked at his face, he had looked a little sad ever since that letter had arrived and she hoped he would stop looking like that soon.

"Yes, Daddy."

"And make sure those brothers of yours don't cause her too much trouble either! Mummy and I will be back later tonight," he squeezed her tightly again and her mother brushed the hair back from her face and kissed her on the forehead. Albus and James came quietly into the room at that point and Harry placed his daughter back on the floor where she had been playing, he ruffled the boys' hair and then Lily watched as her parents left the room.

In complete contrast to usual it was Ginny who this time held Harry and side-along apparated him to the spot in Biltern, St Ives, where they had been told to go for the funeral. Harry had used a public telephone to call the solicitor in London and had found out that they had all died in a car crash on a dangerous road near their home, Dudley had been driving them all and had lost control of the car on a bad bend careering off the road and hitting a tree. They had all been killed instantly on impact. The boy had not been mentioned and in his shock at how they had all died Harry had forgotten to ask about him.

They landed in a clump of trees near the crematorium and noticed that the cars had already arrived bearing the four poor souls, together Harry and Ginny entered the building and walked into the room where the coffins were held. There were only a handful of people in the room, some thuggish looking men around Harry's age who he assumed were Dudley's friends, two boring looking couples who were typical of Aunt Petunia's friends, their noses were turned up in the air and Harry had the sneaking feeling that they were only there to see who else would turn up to Petunia Dursley's funeral. They were looking around for an inconspicuous place to sit when Harry stopped, he had seen a plump female figure standing up at the front of the room, her shoulders were shaking as she sobbed loudly, "What's the matter Harry?" Ginny whispered, the thuggish men in the rows to their right had turned to leer at her and she was feeling uncomfortable.

"It's Aunt Marge," he replied, "Uncle Vernon's sister, the one I..."

"Blew up?" Ginny asked cautiously and Harry nodded, it was at that moment that he noticed a child standing by her side, a round, plump child with mousey blonde hair who was staring at the coffins in front of him and whimpering while Aunt Marge clapped him on the back almost making him fall over. Harry began to move forward again and as she heard the footsteps Aunt Marge turned her head to look at the newcomer, he faltered for a second but then made his way to the front seats on the opposite side to her and the boy, however they had parted ways these people had been Harry's family and he decided that he was not going to hide away. Aunt Marge glared at him savagely but did not speak or acknowledge him in any other way. Ginny hurried into the seat beside him and they sat down as a tall, thick set priest stepped out of a room to the left of Harry's seat and stood at the front of the room.

He welcomed the mourners and began to talk about the tragic loss of four members of the same family in such a terrible accident. He went on to talk about the lives they had led mentioning the years they had lived in Privet Drive where Vernon and Petunia had raised their son, there was no mention whatsoever of Harry but he assumed no one here had ever known he even existed. The priest went on to talk about their move to St Ives where Dudley had met and married his wife and had their son, Vernon, eight years ago, Harry glanced across at the young boy who was still sobbing and his heart went out to him.

After singing a hymn the coffins were taken away behind the curtain and the mourners began to make their way out of the building. Ginny and Harry left quickly and waited outside, no one approached them to ask who they were, for which Harry was grateful, he knew Aunt Petunia would have told no one about his existence down here and that suited him fine, the only person who knew who he really was, was Aunt Marge who was now making her way out of the building with the young Vernon Dursley at her side. The child looked at him and Ginny as Marge walked straight towards them, a menacing look on her face told Harry that this was not going to be pleasant.

"How dare you?" she chided under her breath. "How dare you come to their funerals? You, the boy who they took in against my better judgement, clothed and raised for sixteen years. And how did you repay them? By running out on them, leaving them nothing for all the sweat and tears they had given you, embarrassing them so much that they had to leave their own home to come and live down here. Vernon was never happy here, never but he and Petunia were too embarrassed to go back to where they had been happy, all those people talking about them behind their backs they just couldn't face it. You didn't even have the decency to stay with them and pay rent for a few years after everything they had done for you. But you turn up here, to make sure they are dead and gone I suppose, hoping there might be a titbit of money for you, well I can tell you now every last penny is going to little Vernon here, you won't be getting anything!" she spat the last word at him wagging her finger in his face and Ginny recoiled in disgust.

"Excuse me but-" Ginny tried to say but Harry cut her off.

"It's alright Ginny," he said solemnly. So this was the story they had told about their move to Cornwall without Harry, they had blamed it on him, in truth he had expected nothing less and in all fairness it was his fault that they had had to move.

"My brother cursed the day he ever offered to take you in, you caused him nothing but heartache for sixteen years no wonder he sent you off to that school for criminals. Why couldn't you have been a normal, well behaved boy like little Vernon's Dad, oh Dudders," she shrieked and burst into fresh sobs of tears. The boy by her side had not uttered a word during Aunt Marge's tirade he had simply stared curiously at Harry and his wife but now he attempted to speak to the stranger in front of him whom his Aunt appeared to know. "Are you Harry?" he sneered glaring up at the raven haired man.

"I am," he replied ignoring the tone in his voice he was after all his Uncle Vernon's grandson, he did not expect to be treated respectfully by the boy. "You must be Vernon," he held out his hand for the little boy to shake but he took a step backwards and pouted.

"My Granddad said you were rotten, a waster who would never amount to anything." Harry heard Ginny gasp but he let the comment slide, he would not be seeing this boy again and his parents and grandparents funeral was not a place to reprimand the insolent young man.

"Granddad was right Vernon," Aunt Marge said turning to look at the boy and then back to Harry, she screwed up her face and glared at him, "Now you've seen that they are really dead be off with you, you are not wanted here, Vernon will be turning in his coffin."

"I am sorry for your loss Aunt Marge and I will not lie to you and say that I ever had any respect for the people who brought me up as a servant in their home, there to run around after each of them and stay hidden away whenever anyone else was around," Marge gasped and attempted a protest but Harry refused to be silenced, "However I am here because I was informed of their deaths by their solicitor who also told me that I was mentioned in Dudley's will and therefore I am to be present at it's reading."

"You will get nothing," the older woman spat viciously.

"Do not worry, Aunt Marge, I can assure you I want nothing from the people who called themselves my Aunt and Uncle, nor do I care to have anything from the son who made my life a misery for ten years, beating and bullying me behind closed doors-"

"How dare-" she cut in but Harry still refused to end his tirade.

"You all chose to think Aunt Petunia and your brother were doing me a favour by taking me in but I would have been better off at the orphanage. I will be present at the reading of Dudley's will because I have been asked to but then I will have nothing more to do with this part of my life, I would not have wished this on them but I cannot say that I feel anything about their deaths other than that it is a shame for Vernon, I know the pain of growing up without your parents around and I can assure you that relatives do not always make a better job of it. You will not see me again after today I have my own family now and have no desire to be part of this one again. I assume you will also be at the reading as guardian of their son so until this afternoon I bid you good day." He offered his arm to Ginny who had a triumphant smile on her face, Aunt Marge was stunned and did not speak again as they turned and left, heading back to the spot in the trees where they could apparate safely into London and wait for the reading of the will.

As it was assumed that everyone would be travelling from Cornwall after the funerals, the reading of the wills was scheduled for five o clock that afternoon. Harry and Ginny took the opportunity to spend some time alone browsing around muggle London, they found a small cosy teashop for lunch and ensconced themselves in a corner booth eating soup and sandwiches.

"That woman was horrible," Ginny said.

"Yes, she always was, well to me of course."

"I'm not surprised you blew her up, I wanted to do it right there and then when she started wagging her finger at you. I don't know how you kept your patience! And that insolent little boy, how dare he speak to you like that, If I ever heard any of ours speaking to an adult like that I would crucify them!"

"It was what I expected," Harry muttered.

"But all that stuff she said about you all those lies they told about why they had moved."

She was becoming flustered and angry on his behalf so Harry reached across the table and took her hand in his, rubbing it gently he whispered, "Ginny, it was what I expected, they could hardly tell the truth about why they had moved could they? And technically it was my fault."

"But-"

"Gin, please just forget about it, after today we can go back to our own lives and carry on as if they never existed just like we have done for the last fifteen years. I appreciate that you want to stand up for me but it's not worth it, just forget it sweetheart." He smiled at her and she returned the gesture looking into his eyes and seeing some of the pain that Harry had been reminded of by his meeting with his Aunt. "Let's just get this afternoon over with shall we? Let me get the bill and we can head out for a stroll around the city, we still have a few hours to kill." He left the table to pay the waitress with a small amount of muggle money that he always kept on his person just in case he needed it and they left to wander the streets of London for another few 

hours. Strolling through the parks and watching the families enjoying themselves there lifted their spirits a little and for a while they were able to forget about the funeral, the meeting with Marge and the upcoming reading but eventually they had to make their way to Eastern Road.

The solicitor's office was a small, twisted, medieval cottage painted black and white, it had small windows made up of tiny panes of glass, typical of the medieval style, and was squashed between two taller buildings which drowned the tiny frame. They stepped through a wide, oak door into a small waiting room, a large, inglenook fireplace took up most of one wall in the room and opposite it was a row of chairs, there was no one in the room except for a small secretary sat behind a desk under the window. "Mr Potter?" she queried as she looked up from her papers.

"Yes," Harry replied.

"Please take a seat, Mr Boyd is reading the wills of Mr Vernon Dursley and Mrs Petunia Dursley as they concern Mr Dudley Dursley and must be taken into account when reading his."

"Thank you," Harry said and they took a seat opposite the fire. Harry assumed that Marge must be in the room for the reading of the other wills and he was not relishing the thought of another meeting with her that day, whatever Dudley had said in his will would not go down well with her unless it was just a torrent of abuse to remind him that he had always hated him.

Almost as soon as they had sat down a door to their right opened and a small, aging man appeared in the doorway, Harry peered into the room where he saw Aunt Marge sitting in a chair on one side of a large, cluttered desk.

"Mr Potter I presume," the old man said and Harry nodded at him, "Please come in, may I introduce myself, I am Mr Boyd your Aunt, Uncle and cousin's solicitor. He held out his hand and Harry rose to shake it and follow him into the room, "Is this your wife, Mr Potter?"

"Yes," he replied.

"Maybe she should join us as the matter may concern her too," Ginny looked confused but rose from her seat and followed her husband into the room, Aunt Marge sneered at Harry when she saw him again but she did not speak, Mr Boyd closed the door as they took seats on the same side of the desk as her.

"Thank you for coming Mr Potter, Mrs Potter and Miss Dursley, to the reading of the will of Dudley Dursley." He shuffled a few pages on his desk and lifted one up in his hand to read from, clearing his throat first he began to read in a slow monotone voice, he had evidently read a lot of wills and appeared to take them as a matter of course. "I, Mr Dudley Dursley, being of sound mind do, in the event of my death bequeath all my worldly possessions to my wife, Mrs Danielle Dursley and my son, Master Vernon Dudley Dursley. Any monies payable to my son in the event of my death before he reaches eighteen is to be kept in trust by his legal guardian until the day he turns eighteen. In the event of my wife's death after or simultaneous to my own I bequeath all my worldly possessions to my son, Master Vernon Dudley Dursley with the above stipulation that it remains in trust until his eighteenth birthday." Harry wanted to chuckle to himself as he thought of the day Dudley must have come to make his will, it was obviously written by the solicitors and he wondered to himself how simple they had had to make it sound so that he would understand it. "In the event of both mine and my wife's deaths before our son, Master Vernon Dudley Dursley turns eighteen his guardianship will go to one or both of my parents, Mr Vernon Dudley and Mrs Petunia Dudley. In the event of their deaths before he turns eighteen I award guardianship of him to," Harry watched Marge's chest swell at the prospect of being named Vernon's guardian, "My cousin, Mr Harry Potter and his wife Mrs Ginevra Potter." Harry's mouth fell open as Marge's face began to turn beetroot purple, Ginny turned to look at her husband in shock and then back to the solicitor who smiled in her direction.

"WHAT?" Marge screamed, "Harry? He left Vernon in the guardianship of that waste of space?" she waved her hand in his direction, "There must be some mistake, my brother would never have allowed this, NEVER."

"There is no mistake, Miss Dursley, I was here when Mr Dudley Dursley made his will, I counter signed it, he requested that if his parents were unable to care for the child then he should be placed in the care of his cousin. He also wrote a letter to be given to Mr Potter in the event that this happened."

"Let me see it," Marge demanded but Mr Boyd shook his head, "I am afraid it is only for Mr Potter to read unless he wishes to share it with you." At this point he turned back to Harry and Ginny, the former's mouth was still gaping in shock and Ginny was staring at him in confusion too. "Mr Potter," the man said holding up a small envelope baring his name.

"I don't understand," Harry said, "Why would he want me to...? And how did he know about Ginny? I haven't had any contact with him since we were seventeen."

"Yes he informed me of that, I'm not sure how he knew about your wife, perhaps this will explain a little," he said proffering the envelope once more in his direction. Aunt Marge was fuming, her face was bright red with rage and she was sat in the chair beside Harry almost shaking with anger.

"I will not stand for it," she began in a high pitched voice, "Vernon should be raised by family, close family who know him, not...not...HIM!" she bellowed pointing a finger at Harry.

"Miss Dursley I must ask you to calm yourself or I shall be forced to ask you to leave my office until the matter is sorted out, I suggest that you accept the decision of your nephew and allow Mr Potter to decide what he is to do. In the event that he does not wish to take Vernon, then he can sign guardianship over to you, but that is his decision to make."

The flustered woman sat back in the chair and pouted still shaking but keeping her temper under control. Harry took the letter that Mr Boyd was still holding out to him and opened it slowly, placing it between himself and Ginny so that she could look at it too, he began to read.

_Dear Harry,_

_I know this must be really unexpected from me after the way we all treated you when you lived with us but during that attack with the dismembers you saved my life and I was grateful for that. I spent sixteen years hating the fact that you lived with us because I thought that was what I was supposed to do and when I found out what you were I thought you were weird like my parents told me but you still saved me when you could have left me to die as revenge for all the things we did to you. I know you are a good person and if anything happens to me and Danielle I want you to look after Vernon. I know you could leave him with Aunt Marge if my Mum and Dad are not around and I can understand why you might want to do that but I think you are a better person and I believe I can trust you to look after my boy better than we ever looked after you._

_I suppose you want to know how I found out you got married? Those people who took us away to Cornwall left us an address which the lawyer has in case he ever needs to contact you but they also gave us a mirror. They said we could use it to contact them if we ever needed to but Mum said it was rubbish and hid it away saying I was never to touch it, but one day I found it, I suppose she kept it just in case something ever happened and she needed to contact your lot. I used it a few years ago and asked that man Diggle to tell me what had happened to you, I guess I was just curious to know. He said you had been a real hero and that you had got married and had a son of your own, I am glad for you Harry. I didn't think it would be a good idea to get in touch with you and I never told Mum and Dad they would have hit the roof._

_I'm sorry now that we were so bad to you but I just hope that if you have got this letter you will take in my son and look after him I would rather he grew up with your lot than Aunt Marge._

_From Dudley._

Harry looked up at his wife with a bemused expression on his face which was echoed in hers, "I can't believe it."

"Mr Potter, I understand this has come as a shock to you and your wife and I realise you will need time to get used to the idea, Mr Dursley was adamant that you be informed of his death immediately if it was required that you take his son. He did not allow his parents to know of his decision-"

"I am not surprised, Vernon would not have stood for it it's outrageous, why would Dudley want you to have his son? You may look well to do today but a leopard doesn't change his spots you are rotten to the core just like your mother and father were, Vernon was a fool to ever allow Petunia to take you in and now look what it has come to," Marge was heaving again and her face was turning purple, it reminded Harry of Uncle Vernon when he got angry.

"As I said before Miss Dursley, it is up to Mr and Mrs Potter as to whether they take the boy, these are Dudley Dursley's wishes but he was aware that Mr Potter could chose to hand over guardianship to you if he wanted to."

"Well he'd better get around to doing it then," she chuntered. Harry glared at Marge but she stood her ground and stared defiantly back, she clearly thought she would be taking Vernon home with her that evening.

"What about his maternal grandparents, or any of their family? Did Danielle not wish to leave her son with any of them?" Harry asked the solicitor.

"I believe Mrs Dursley was an orphan with no family to speak of." Harry nodded and looked at his wife, "What should we do?" he asked her and she looked back at him.

"You know what to do!" Marge shrieked.

"Perhaps you would like a little time alone to discuss the matter Mr and Mrs Potter," Mr Boyd said looking at the two of them and then over to Aunt Marge, "Miss Dursley, perhaps a cup of tea in the waiting room?" She opened her mouth to protest but the solicitor looked her square in the eyes and she rose from her seat.

"Thank you," Harry said as they left the room, Aunt Marge threw another threatening glare over her shoulder as she left as if daring him to keep the boy. When the door had closed behind them Harry turned to Ginny and reiterated, "What do we do?"

"We take him home," she replied shocking Harry almost as much as the whole situation had.

"What?"

"Dudley wanted you to take care of him, he obviously came to realise that his parents did not do a very good job of doing it with you, while this may have been a little late he still came to realise it and he wants you to give him a life he knows Marge won't be able to."

"But he's a muggle. How can we bring up a muggle in our home, will Dudley have told him what we are? And will he accept us? He could be as bigoted as Uncle Vernon, remember he has had eight years of him even if Dudley had become more tolerant. And what about our children, is it fair to bring Vernon into our home? We said we had enough with three."

"Harry you are looking for excuses not to take him in, why? Dudley obviously trusted you, as he said you saved his life when you could have left him because that is the kind of person you are and in the absence of his real parents he wants you to give that to Vernon. I'm not saying it will be easy but we will find a way, we cannot turn the child away, for all their faults Petunia 

and Vernon did take you in when you were orphaned and for the right reasons, this is our way of giving that back." She looked at him imploringly, from what Harry had seen of the boy that day he was very much a carbon copy of his father at eight years old and Harry was not sure he wanted to subject his own children to that, but on the other hand Dudley had deemed Harry fit enough to take care of his own child and he had to see that too. Could he condemn the child to living with Aunt Marge?

"This is all just so unexpected Ginny, I don't want to find excuses not to take him but this could turn our lives upside down, he will be so different and I have never heard of a muggle being brought up in a wizard home before."

"No that's true but it will be like raising a squib, he will learn to adjust, we all will but we cannot turn him away if this is what Dudley wanted." Harry nodded at her and smiled, she was so understanding and could always see the good in everything, as long as he had her by his side he knew he could face anything, even if that anything was the son of his cousin.

"Aunt Marge won't be happy," Harry chuckled.

"No, but Dudley would," she said softly putting a hand on his cheek and then rising to open the door, "We will have to get everything sorted, I'm sure as legal guardians there will be paperwork to sort through." Harry saw Mr Boyd and Aunt Marge sitting in the waiting room and Marge practically bounced to her feet when the door opened, speeding into the room behind the solicitor she barked, "I assume you have made the right decision," and sat down on Harry's right.

"Yes," Harry retorted and then turning to the solicitor continued, "We will take the boy," he heard the sharp intake of breath on his right but did not cease speaking, "I assume there is-"

"I will not have it, I WILL NOT HAVE IT! The boy is coming home with me, Mr Boyd I wish you to have the paperwork drawn up immediately I will not have my nephew going home to live with these people."

"Miss Dursley," he shouted, "That is not your decision to make and if you make one more outburst like that I will have you escorted from my offices immediately, Vernon Dudley's guardianship is to be awarded to Mr Potter and his wife, no matter what your feelings are." Then turning back to look at Harry he finished, "I have all the necessary paperwork here, his monies will be held in trust by our bank until he turns eighteen, all that is required is a signature, there is an amount payable to you each month for his keep as well-"

"That will not be necessary, Mr Boyd," Harry said, "I wish all the money to be kept for Vernon when he turns eighteen, we have sufficient to keep him until then."

"As you wish," he nodded and then lifted some papers from his desk, "In that case, Mr Potter, there are just a few papers to sign about his guardianship, once that is done you may take the boy with you, I believe he has been staying with you, Miss Dursley," he said turning to her once more, "since the accident, while Mr and Mrs Potter fill in all the legal documentation I shall escort you to your residence and collect the boy." She looked affronted at being told what would happen but did not speak out of turn again.

"He is at his home in St Ives with a friend of the family, I have been staying with him there since I was informed of the tragedy, he will need to get himself ready."

"Very well, I feel it would be appropriate for the boy to be informed and allowed to spend one more night in his family home, do you agree Mr Potter?" Boyd asked him, "Perhaps if I were to travel with Miss Dursley back to St Ives and bring the boy here tomorrow, would that suit you?"

"What?" Harry asked, "Oh, yes, yes that would be fine, give us time to sort out our own home and tell the children."

"You have your own children?" Marge asked curiously, "Goodness only knows what they will be like and the influence they will have over little Vernon, you make sure those children treat him right, he has lost his parent you know, good people who should never have been taken from this world so young."

"Yes, he'll be like I was in Uncle Vernon's house, an orphan, but don't worry we shall treat him much better than they ever treated me."

"How dare you!"

"Miss Dursley," Boyd interrupted sensing another outburst, "Shall we leave and then you can spend the evening with Vernon before I bring him back here tomorrow. Mr and Mrs Potter, my partner Mr Wicklow will arrange for everything to be ready to sign tomorrow, shall we say twelve o clock?"

"That suits us," Harry replied and held out his hand for the solicitor to shake, "Aunt Marge," he continued looking up at her, "We will not deny you the right to visit your nephew, though I suggest we leave it until he is settled with us, we will be in touch."

She glared at him menacingly and nodded her head before leaving the room, Harry and Ginny waited until they had left the building before standing and walking out themselves. A cool evening breeze swept their faces as they stepped out into the street and Harry took Ginny's hand in his own, they walked on for a few minutes without speaking until they found a quiet alleyway from which they could apparate home.

"You are so understanding, Ginny, I can't believe how well you have taken this, I'm still flabbergasted that he's chosen me, I mean he knew we'd have to raise him in a wizarding world ," he paused and thought about his own children again, "I'm not sure the children will accept it as calmly as you have."

"Yes they will," she replied, "because they are tolerant children raised by us, they will respect our decision and understand that Vernon has no parents of his own to care for him, do not worry about them they will adapt." She pulled him into her body and wrapped her arms tightly around him, "Ready?" she asked as she prepared to side along apparate Harry back to Grimmauld Place, he nodded and she turned on the spot, feeling the familiar squeeze as all the air was pushed from her lungs, they apparated to the front doorstep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks again to my loyal reviewers! I'm glad I did justice to Aunt Marge, well now you all know who the muggle is so here you get to meet the wonderful Vernon and find out what life will be like for the Potters now!! I had this story in my head for a while cause I thought it would be fun to have the contrast of Harry having to bring up Dudley's child! There is a bit of Harry/Ginny stuff to come in this story too (for those angsty fans) but it ties in with Vernon too in a way so read on and please Review!**

Lily felt a little scared, her parents' behaviour seemed strange to her, they had called the three of them down to sit at the kitchen table with Kreacher and no one had dared to speak yet, her brothers also seemed to sense that something was not quite right. Albus and James were sat next to each other and she was seated between Kreacher and her mother who was twisting her hands nervously, what was going on? Had something bad happened? Suddenly her father stood up and cleared his throat, "Children," he nodded to them, "And Kreacher," he indicated the aging elf too who was almost beside himself at being included in some deeply serious family matter, "As you know today your Mum and I have been out to a funeral for one of my muggle relatives." The children and Kreacher all nodded in understanding and allowed him to continue, "Well we've never really told you all about my muggle relatives," Lily noticed that he looked sad and wondered if he missed them, "I was left with them when I was one and up until I was eleven I didn't even know that I was a wizard," James and Albus gasped but Lily continued to stare at her Dad, "My Aunt and Uncle did not want anything to do with wizards and witches because they didn't understand our world, they tried to hide it from me, they weren't the kindest people either, they looked after me, clothing and feeding me and sending me to school but I had an unhappy childhood with them." James looked outraged for his father and Albus had a sympathetic look on his face, "They had a son of their own too, Dudley, he was quite mean to me for most of my life but when I was eleven Hagrid found me and told me what I was and that I would be going to Hogwarts, which as you know is where I met Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, and of course your Mum," he looked over at Ginny and smiled and Lily saw that wonderous magic that seemed to flow between them.

"They hid the fact that I was a wizard from everyone they knew, fortunately once I had started at Hogwarts I only had to return to them once a year for a few weeks in the summer, I'd spend the other holidays either at Hogwarts or at the Burrow with your Grandparents. But I had to return once a year for my own protection."

"From what?" James asked

"That's not important right now James, but eventually, when I turned seventeen, I had to leave and so did they, I went to stay at the Burrow and they moved away to Cornwall, I never saw them again after that."

"So why did you have to go to the funeral today then?" Albus asked curiously.

"Because that letter we had which told me they had all been killed in an accident said that I had to go and listen to Dudley's will because he had mentioned me."

"What's a will?" James asked.

"It's something you write before you die telling people what you want to happen with all your things when you die, it's how Dad got this house from his godfather, Sirius." Ginny explained carefully.

"That's right," Harry said, "And my cousin had mentioned me in his will so we had to go and listen to it being read."

"What did he say?" James asked, his curiosity about his father's family peaking.

"Well that's why we need to talk to you all," he said seriously and the children all looked solemnly at him, "You see my Aunt and Uncle and Dudley and his wife were in a car crash, that's what killed them, but Dudley had a son who was at school when it happened so he's still alive and in his will Dudley asked that if anything happened to him and his wife then their son, Vernon, was to come and live with...us." He looked up at Ginny as he said this and waited for the children's reactions. No one said anything for a while but eventually Albus spoke carefully, "So he's our cousin?" he asked.

"Yes," Harry answered.

"And he's a muggle?"

"Yes," Harry repeated.

"And he's going to live here with us?"

"It's what his father wanted," Ginny said softly. "I know it's going to be different for all of us and we will have to remember that he has just lost his Mum and Dad so he will probably be very upset too," they had decided not to share what they had seen of the boy so far, in the hopes that in their home he may be a little different.

"But we don't know him," James interjected.

"I know James, but he is part of my family," Harry explained, "And we are all that is left to take care of him.

"But he's not like us either, how can he live with us?"

"Because he has to James and we want to take care of him, I know it won't be easy at first but we will all get used to each other, he will be like another brother to you and we expect you to treat him in that way, he will have to adjust a lot in order to fit in with our lifestyle and you three will have to do your best to make that easy for him but we know you will accept him as part of our family."

"How old is he?" Albus queried.

"About nine I think, we don't actually know that much about him yet, we only met him this morning."

"When is he coming?" James asked.

"Tomorrow, we have to go and collect him around dinner time."

The children looked shocked that it was going to happen so soon but Ginny and Harry did their best to assure them that everything would be fine before they ushered them to bed later that night, Kreacher agreed to look after them while they visited the Burrow and explained everything to Ginny's family, they had asked Ron and Hermione to meet them there too.

"I've never heard of a muggle being brought up by wizards before," Hermione said when they had explained it all "It's not going to be easy."

"We know that Hermione but what can we do?" Harry said a little angrily.

"You'll do your best, both of you, like you always do and we'll all be here to help you too," Molly assured them.

"Thanks Molly," Harry said relaxing a little, "I'm just worried about what it will be like, we met him this morning and he seems to be just like Dudley was at his age, a spoilt little brat, it's James, Albus and Lily I'm worried about, I just don't want them to be affected by it."

"They're children Harry," Molly reassured, "They will adjust, and even if Vernon is like his father then there must be some good inside of him, he changed as he grew older and obviously appreciated you in some way, that must be inside Vernon somewhere too even if it is not present at the moment, you'll bring it out in him between you, I know you will." She smiled at them both and Harry began to feel better about the whole thing, he remembered how lucky he was to have this wonderful, supportive family around him who would do anything for them, and he knew that it would be alright. The boy being left in their care was like he was years and years ago, an orphan, alone in the world with family that he didn't know, but then he remembered how he had met the Weasleys and how they had become his new family, this was his chance to give that to Vernon, though he might be a Dursley by blood he was going to become a member of the loving Potter-Weasley family and Harry was going to make sure that he had the best life he could possibly offer him if that was what Dudley wanted him to do.

Ginny prepared one of the spare bedrooms before they went to bed that night, she changed the bedding and tried to make it look homely for the boy, she hoped that he would bring some things of his own with him to decorate his room as she was not sure exactly what he would be in to. It was almost midnight before she made her way up to their room and settled into bed beside her husband, "We'll have to take him somewhere to explain what we are before he comes to the house Harry, I think number twelve sliding out from between the other two houses may scare the boy if he doesn't understand about us and our world," Ginny said.

"I'm going to go into the Ministry first thing in the morning and ask Abery if he can lend us a car to pick him up, he won't be able to side-along apparate with us and the train and tube will take too long, I think it's best to get him here and settled as soon as possible. It's going to be tough to move around with him, I think he can use the floo network but I'll check with the floo department in the morning, I know squibs can use them and it's the powder which is magic not the person, it's all going to be so difficult." He wrung his head in his hands and ran his fingers through the raven coloured hair on his head, "There is going to be so much to explain to him. I remember when I first found out I was a wizard it was all so confusing but at least I could do all these things, he'll have to know about them and then just watch from the sidelines while we and the children do magic."

"I know but we can't help that, he will just have to get used to it, Harry, we can't stop the children from living with magic."

"You're right, we'll figure it out," he said pulling her into his arms and holding her close. Harry felt that while ever he had Ginny at his side he knew he could face anything.

"You've been gone a long time Harry," Ginny said quite sternly when he flooed back into the kitchen of Grimmauld place the next morning, "We're going to be late now for Mr Boyd, that's not going to give Vernon a good impression of us. Did you get the car?"

"Yes, it's alright we can apparate to that alley near the solicitors, Abery is having the car sent out there to pick us up. I'm sorry I'm late but he wanted to talk to me about something again," Ginny noticed a shifty look in his eye that made her a little uncomfortable but she reminded herself of the conversation they had had before about him returning to work and remembered that he was a good source of knowledge for Abery on a lot of dark magic, besides she would never begrudge Abery using Harry for information after the help he had given them when Harry was missing. She realised he was probably feeling guilty for helping Abery because he knew she would worry that he was going back to the Ministry, she put a smile on her face to show him that she did not mind and he relaxed a little. "Come on then, if we leave now we won't be late," he said and she took his arm so they could leave the house and side-along apparate.

"Did you speak to the floo network about Vernon?" she asked as they hurried along the thin hallway.

"Yes, they said he would be able to use the floo, like I thought it's the powder that makes the magic, it's how squibs get around because they can't apparate. They also said that we could use the knight bus if we needed to get somewhere without the floo as long as Vernon knows about it he will be able to see it."

"Of course, I never thought of that," Ginny mused opening the door and ushering Harry outside, "Anyway are you ready?" she said as Harry closed the front door behind them.

Seconds later they were stood in the alley near Boyd, Wicklow and Grey solicitors, Harry noticed a black car waiting near the entrance to the solicitor's office and he nodded at the driver who held up his hand in recognition. Harry had requested a normal car that was not magically enlarged as they would need to explain their situation to Vernon before shocking him with some of their magical ways.

As they approached the front door of the small building which housed the solicitors office Harry took a deep breath, he was not sure how easy or difficult this day was going to be and he was nervous with anticipation about Vernon. The secretary in the waiting room asked them to take a seat as she buzzed Mr Boyd to let him know they had arrived, a few minutes later his office door opened and the solicitor beckoned for them to enter.

Sitting in the seat where Aunt Marge had been the previous day sat the round, plump figure of Vernon Dudley Dursley, his hair had been combed over to one side and it revealed his brutish pig like face with large, round eyes which seemed to sink into his chubby face. He had a mutinous look on it, one which Harry had seen on his cousin's face many times before when things were not going his way and Harry knew immediately that Vernon was not going to accept them welcomingly.

"Vernon," said the solicitor gently, "These are your guardians Harry and Ginevra Potter." The young boy looked up at them but did not lose the stern look on his face. Ginny walked over to the seat next to him and sat down.

"Hello Vernon," she said, "I'm Ginny your cousin's wife, we're very excited about you coming to live with us," she smiled softly but Vernon's mask still did not alter.

"I know who you are," he spat, "And him," he nodded in the direction of Harry, "And I know what you are as well." Ginny looked rather taken a back and she stared helplessly from Harry to the solicitor in a panic, her body becoming rigid, if Vernon opened his mouth in the solicitor's office then there could be trouble. However the solicitor simply smiled and turned to Harry saying, "We have discussed what it means that you are his legal guardians although I'm afraid to say he is not very happy about the situation," Ginny relaxed her body a little but she still had a sneaky feeling that Vernon had been talking about them being wizards and not just the legality of them being his guardians. "I am afraid," Mr Boyd continued, "That Miss Dursley did not help the matter when we returned last night, she appears to have filled the boy's head with stories about your ability to bring him up, none of which have allayed his fears about being taken to your home, I have tried to reassure him that it is what his father wanted but he seems adamant that he will not be happy about it, however he does understand that he has no choice in the matter and came without quarrel this morning. In fact he seemed quite relieved to be out of the grasp of his Aunt who sobbed pathetically and fawned all over him, something he clearly did not want any more than he wanted to come here. I am afraid you may have a rocky road ahead of you Mr and Mrs Potter," he tried to smile and Ginny returned it for the both of them.

"Thank you Mr Boyd, we shall take it from here," Harry said, "the papers?" he enquired and the solicitor walked around his desk and rummaged on it for a minute or two before bringing everything to him that he needed to sign, it felt strange to Harry to be using a pen instead of a quill and realised again that Vernon would have a lot of adjusting to do over the next few months. They had discussed whether he should be brought up completely in the magical world but had realised that one day he would probably need to re-enter the muggle world so they had agreed that they would do some muggle activities and introduce some muggle objects into their home. Ginny thought it would give their own children a better understanding of the muggle world and she knew that her father would love it.

"This is everything?" Harry asked when he had signed the final paper, "What about his money?"

"When he turns eighteen he will need to come to the offices and they will be released for him, until then if you need anything from the money set aside for his keep you need only contact us." Harry nodded his understanding.

"Do we have a contact for Aunt Marge?" he asked, "I did promise she could see Vernon once he has settled in," he noticed a scowl cross the boy's face as he said this and Harry understood that his young cousin had little respect for the woman.

"Yes, I have the details here," he handed Harry a small piece of paper with an address and telephone number written on it, "And all of his things are in the waiting room, he does not have much but his Aunt said that is all he wanted to bring with him. Do you have transportation?"

"Yes, we have a car outside thank you," he replied offering his hand to the solicitor.

In all this time Vernon had not uttered another word even though Ginny had tried to engage him in conversation, "Vernon," Harry said speaking to his cousin's child for the first time, "It is time for us to go, you have to come with us now."

"I know," he said gruffly rising from his seat and staring defiantly at his new guardians. He followed them out into the waiting room where Harry saw one small case sitting by a chair under the window, Harry went to pick it up but the boy shot forwards and grabbed it from his reach, "I can get it myself," he chuntered before walking straight out of the office door and onto the street.

"Good luck," Mr Boyd said as they left. Ginny hurried to catch up with her new ward and pointed to the car when she saw him looking around outside. Vernon set off on his own in it's direction, when the driver noticed them all heading towards him he opened the car door for the child to get in. Vernon threw his case in first before jumping in himself and slamming the door shut behind him.

"I think he is going to need some strong discipline Ginny," Harry sighed.

"Not today, Harry, let's get him home and settled and then we can start setting down the rules, he has been through a lot and whatever his temperament it is going to be heightened at the loss of his parents and grandparents especially as he is going to have to live with strangers now."

"You're right Gin, let's get in the car and explain a few things to him," he took another deep breath and opened the car door for her to climb in. The back of the car had two long seats facing each other, Vernon was sat in the middle of one of them, his case had been abandoned on the floor and Ginny picked it up as she sat opposite him, he eyed her warily as she touched it but did not say anything. Harry climbed in next to Ginny and closed the door, the driver set off and they lurched a little as the car began to move.

"Vernon," Harry said sensitively, "Before we take you home there are some things we need to explain to you about us and our family, you see we-"

"I told you, I know what you are," Vernon interrupted, "My Dad told me once, he told me all about you and what you are, tried to explain that you were different but I asked my granddad about you too and he told me you were freaks!" Ginny gasped and Harry looked sternly at the boy.

"Now Vernon, you must understand we are not...freaks, we are just different to you and the rest of your world but it is nothing to be ashamed of, you will still be in touch with the muggle world-"

"The what?" he screeched.

"The muggles, non-magic people like you. We will make sure that you still have contact with the muggle world, and with Aunt Marge."

"I don't need her she's a miserable old bat."

"Vernon," Ginny chided, "You must not talk like that about her, no matter what you think of her." He looked down but showed no remorse for his outburst.

"If she wants to see you then you must have contact with her Vernon, anyway as I was saying, you will grow up with both the magical and the muggle world but you must understand it is very important that you do not tell anyone in the muggle world about us and what we are."

"Don't worry I wouldn't admit to anyone what freaks you are!"

"Vernon," Harry said in a gruff voice usually reserved for his sons when they were misbehaving, "You will stop talking like that immediately, we are not freaks, we are different to you and you must learn to put your prejudice aside, do you understand?" The boy glared defiantly at Harry but did not utter another word.

"There are some other things you need to know too Vernon," Ginny said calmly trying to diffuse the situation, "We have three children of our own, James, Albus and Lily."

"What kind of a name is Albus?" he laughed but Ginny ignored him placing her hand up to Harry who was about to warn the child again, "James is the same age as you I think, you are nine is that correct?"

"I'll be ten in January," he answered.

"James will be ten in December, so he is only just older than you, Albus is eight and Lily is almost five. They will be your brothers and sister Vernon, they know all about you and they're excited about you coming to stay with us."

"Are they fre-" he stopped looking at Harry who sat up at his words, "Wizards too?"

"Yes they are," Ginny replied, "But they cannot do much magic yet, not until they are at school."

"Why?" he asked, a tinge of curiosity in his voice, while he thought they were odd he was still obviously interested in the world he was about to enter.

"They are not allowed to do proper magic until they are being taught how to do it correctly at school, but they will not go to school until they are eleven."

"Why not?"

"Because wizards do not go to school until then, they go away to school when they are eleven, to a special place where they learn how to cast spells and perform magic."

"Will I go there?" he asked, his curiosity was getting the better of him and his mask was beginning to slip slightly.

"No," Ginny replied softly, "It is only for witches and wizards we will have to find you a school nearby to go to." Vernon's mask immediately returned when he realised he would be different to the other children.

"Probably a stupid school anyway," he said sullenly and Harry was reminded of a memory that he once saw in Dumbledore's pensieve. It had belonged to Snape and had shown his Aunt Petunia as a young girl saying that Hogwarts must be a stupid school in much the same way as Vernon just had.

"Now Vernon, when we arrive at our house you will not be able to see it because it is hidden by magic, the only way to see it is if we tell you the address, however there is magical protection around it and so the only person who can tell you the address is our house elf, Kreacher."

"Your what?" he asked curiosity creeping back in.

"Our house elf, he is secret keeper of out home," Ginny explained, "he is the only person who can tell you the address so we had to have him write it down for you," she handed a crumpled up piece of parchment to the boy who opened it to stare down at a short address written in an untidy scrawl, ink blotches obscured some of the letters in the note but Vernon correctly read it out as "number twelve Grimmauld place."

"And here we are," Harry said as they pulled up in the street named Grimmauld Place.

"I can't see it," Vernon said scanning the street for number twelve, "I can see eleven and thirteen, where is it? You've told me the address so where is the house? " he was curious again and Harry smiled at him remembering his own curiosity with the wizarding world when he had first learned of its existence. The car stopped and they all climbed out, Vernon showed his independence again by carrying his case out of the car and forwards towards the two houses he could see, still waiting for number twelve to appear.

"I still can't see it, where is it? You're lying to me," he accused.

"Keep looking," Harry said gently.

**Don't forget to please review!!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Please read and review this chapter, I've quite enjoyed the challenge of this story having a bit more family life to it and am almost finished on the whole thing now! It's been a long time in the works for me but I hope readers are enjoying it! Please let me know!**

Chapter 8

Harry watched Vernon's eyes grow almost bigger than his sockets as number twelve Grimmauld Place slid out from between the two adjacent houses, his mouth fell open in shock and he dropped his suitcase on the ground as the steps up to the front door moved out towards him. The imposing house stood in front of him seconds later and he was speechless, Harry smiled at Ginny who chuckled softly and then put her hand on Vernon's shoulder, immediately he closed his mouth, picked up his case and shrugged her hand away, "Can we go in then?" he grumbled and Harry motioned for him to walk up the steps. When they reached the door Harry withdrew his wand from the pocket of his jeans and waved it across the place where a lock would have been on any other front door, he heard a slight gasp of surprise from Vernon at the movement but by the time he looked over at his face it was completely composed with a scowl like look on it.

"After you," Harry said holding the door open for the young boy who stepped into the narrow hallway behind it, he froze as the alerts went off and stared back at Harry, "It's alright they are just to let everyone know that we are here, it's a big house." Vernon turned back to look down the hallway and began walking until he reached the steps, "In here," Ginny said as she passed him and then held open the kitchen door, he stepped tentatively into the room and gazed around curiously, "What's that?" he screeched as he set eyes upon the houself busy cleaning by the sink and Harry noticed a very Aunt Petunia like look of disgust cross his face.

"Vernon, this is Kreacher our house elf, he helps around the house and with the children, but you must treat him with respect Vernon, he has been here a long time and I will not have you looking at him like that. He is a kind and generous elf but you must be kind and generous back to him."

"Whatever," he spat.

"Vernon, I mean it, I will not have you being disrespectful to Kreacher."

"Fine," he said sullenly, "So where are your kids then?"

"They are with my Mum and Dad," Ginny interjected before Harry could chide him for his tone, she wanted to get through the first day without too much hassle if that was possible, "We thought it would be better if you got settled into your room and we showed you a bit of the house before they came back, but they are very excited about meeting you, especially the boys."

"So where's my room then?" he asked still with a sullen tone to his voice.

"We'll show you in a few minutes, would you like a drink or anything to eat first?" she asked gently but he shook his head, "Well let's head upstairs then." Ginny motioned for Vernon to follow her and Harry rose too, "Why don't you stay here Harry, Kreacher could sort us out some lunch before I go and get the children." She nodded with her head that she would be alright with Vernon and he sat back in his chair at the kitchen table, "This way Vernon," she said as they started up the stairs. The young child's head looked all around him as they climbed the stairs, "Why are those pictures moving?" he asked as he noticed all the pictures of the Potter children hanging where the house elves' heads had once been.

"That's what wizard pictures do, Vernon, these are our children, that's James," she pointed to a recent picture of him flying around on a small broom with a quaffle under his arm, Vernon looked at it curiously, "That is Albus," she continued pointing to a young wizard with a large and heavy book in his hands, "And this is Lily," she motioned to a third picture of Lily gazing serenely at the camera in a 'Luna' type way.

They carried on up the stairs but Vernon did not say another word, he gazed at the other pictures adorning the walls but didn't ask about them, as they passed certain areas of the house Ginny pointed out what different rooms were, like the sitting room and the library but Vernon did not respond at all. Finally they reached the floor on which the children's bedrooms were, she pointed to each of them in turn and then motioned to a fourth door at the end of the narrow landing, "This will be your room, Vernon, we are up one more floor but we thought you would be more comfortable on the same floor as the other children," she smiled at him but he did not respond, he opened the door and walked into the room which housed a large, wrought iron bed, a small wardrobe, an old fashioned chintz armchair and a wooden chest. "We thought you could put your toys in here," she said opening the chest to reveal a large empty space.

"Didn't bring non," he said, "Don't have toys, just my computer, where can I plug it in?"

"Your er...?" Ginny asked, she had heard of computers from Harry but didn't know anything about them other than that they needed electricity.

"Com-pu-ter," he said slowly as of she was stupid, "You know to play games on."

"Sorry Vernon, but we don't have electricity, wizards don't need it and we don't have computers either, I've never even seen one," she smiled at him and his mouth fell open in shock.

"You've never seen a computer?" he said in disbelief, "How can you never have seen one? And why don't you have electricity? How can you do anything without electricity?"

"We have magic Vernon, we don't need muggle things like that, I'm sorry but you won't be able to use your computer here."

"What about a television, if you don't have electricity do you have one of those?" A television she had seen before, Harry had once taken her out in London and they had stayed at a muggle hotel for the night, the room had had a television in it and Ginny had been intrigued by all the different things that were on it at the touch of a button but she had never desired to have one of her own, even when they had lived in the flat where they did actually have electricity which they had never used.

"No we don't Vernon, I think you will find a lot of things different in this house, there is a lot you will have to get used to. Now do you need any help putting your things away?"

"No, I can manage."

"Alright then, I'll let you get everything put away and then you can come down for some lunch, do you think you can find your way back down by yourself?"

"Yeah," he spat, "I'm not stupid." She ignored his comment and turned to leave the room heading down the stairs and back to the kitchen where Harry was sat reading the Daily Prophet.

"How is he?"

"Confused and a little bewildered I think, he brought his computer and didn't seem very happy when I told him we have no electricity, he wanted to know if we had a television too."

"Hmm, I never thought about things like that, we will have to find him some other things he can play with instead, perhaps James will share some of his toys if we talk to him about it. Though he should still have some muggle things around too, maybe I could contact Aunt Marge and ask her to ship some more of his things, I mean he didn't bring very much did he?"

"He says that he didn't have any toys to bring, maybe we should just let him settle in and play with some of the things the boys have, I'm sure he'll get used to it after a while."

"I hope so, now lunch," he said, "Kreacher has made some sandwiches, is Vernon coming back down?"

"I told him to make his way down when he was ready."

They waited half an hour before Harry set off to find Vernon, he wasn't in his bedroom and after calling him for a few minutes he finally heard a shuffle in the library and he popped his head around the door, Vernon was walking up and down in the room looking at the hundreds of books which lined the shelves. "We wondered what had happened to you," Harry said jovially making Vernon jump, he glared back at his cousin but did not say another word, instead he walked past Harry and left the room heading down the stairs and back to the kitchen quietly.

"Ah there you are," Ginny said as he entered the room, "Kreacher get Vernon a drink please, what would you like?"

"Anything," he retorted and Kreacher looked helplessly at his mistress.

"Pumpkin juice Kreacher," she said and he set off to the pantry in search of the drink.

"So you just order him around and he does stuff?" the young boy asked as he watched Kreacher get a glass and fill it with a pulpy orange liquid.

"We don't order Kreacher, we ask him politely but yes he will do what we ask him to do, but you are not to take advantage of him, the children in this house know that and you will remember it too, he is here to help us but he is not a slave." He looked over at the elf with the disdainful look in his face again, "Vernon," Ginny said firmly and he wiped it off immediately. "Sit down and eat something and then we will go and fetch the children back for you to meet." He took a seat at the long kitchen table and quietly munched on the ham and cheese sandwiches Kreacher had carefully made half an hour earlier, Harry rejoined them at the table and ate his own lunch, trying sporadically to engage Vernon in conversation about his life with Dudley and his mother but the boy answered only with short and quiet phrases so he gave up after a while and went back to reading the newspaper. When she had eaten Ginny rose from her seat and headed towards the fireplace, "I'll go and get the children," she said walking into the flames, Vernon gasped and stared at her his mouth falling wide open when she threw floo powder into the air and shouted 'The Burrow' in a determined voice.

"Where...did? What...? How?" Vernon muttered and Harry held back a chuckle remembering the first time he had seen someone use the floo network, "It's called a floo," he explained, "you throw the floo powder and say where you want to go and then you are taken through fireplaces, you end up in the fireplace of the place you wanted to go, Ginny has gone to the Burrow where her Mum and Dad live."

"Will I have to do that if I want to go anywhere?" he asked cautiously not sure if he wanted to or not.

"Mostly," Harry answered nodding his head, "You cannot apparate and it's the only magical way to get around without actually being magic, it's how squibs travel."

"What?" he asked.

"Squibs, they are born to magic people but are not witches or wizards so they cannot perform magic for themselves, they can use the floo network because it is the powder which is magic so it will take anyone, we had to check these things out earlier today before you came to live with us." Vernon nodded still looking unsure about having to travel in such a way.

"So why didn't you bring much with you Vernon?" Harry asked putting down his newspaper and turning to look at his young cousin, he resembled Dudley so much that he almost felt as if he had gone back in time and was sitting at the table in Privet Drive.

"Didn't have much to bring and what I did bring is useless here anyway without electricity," Harry found it strange that Vernon would have very little, he remembered Dudley being very spoilt as a child, getting everything he had ever wanted from his parents and usually breaking it within a few days though perhaps he had not changed as he had grown older and resented having to give anything up, even to his own child.

"We'll sort you some things out from the boys, they have plenty of toys they could share with you."

"I don't need any of their freaky toys, I'll be fine." Harry was about to discipline the boy again but a whirling sound from the fireplace signalled the arrival of his wife and children so he turned his attention that way instead remembering what Ginny had said earlier about getting through the first day without confrontation.

"They are here," Harry said instead and Vernon's gaze lifted to look at the fireplace where he saw two boys appear in the flames, they looked like Harry and were arguing as they stepped out of the fire, seconds later Ginny and Lily appeared in the same spot. Dusting herself off she stepped out of the fire and placed Lily on the floor next to her brothers, "James, Albus, Lily" she said, "this is your cousin Vernon. Vernon, meet our children James," she pushed him forwards a little, "Albus and Lily," she concluded pointing in turn at the two other children. The three Potters stared at the plump young boy sat at their kitchen table and he returned the gaze with a blazing and determined look in his eye.

"Hello, Vernon," Albus said walking towards the boy and holding out his hand to shake in a very grown up way. Vernon looked at it but did not attempt to shake it, Albus ignored this fact and continued to talk to him, "Can you play chess?" Vernon looked at him and shook his head, "Oh, that's alright I can teach you to play if you want to." Harry beamed with pride at his young son who would make friends with anyone, James was still standing warily behind his brother.

"I don't want to play with you freaks," Vernon shouted and then he jumped up from his seat and ran out of the door, they heard his footsteps pounding on the stairs as he headed up to his room, Harry made to follow him but Ginny tugged on his arm, "Let him be today Harry, he has a lot to deal with, he will come round and we will sort out his attitude then, I do not want him speaking to the children like that but it can wait until tomorrow." He nodded at his wife and sat back in his seat, "Well done Albus for being so grown up, I'm sure once he is used to us all he will let you teach him how to play chess."

"Why did he call us freaks?" Lily asked softly as she climbed onto a chair next to her father and gazed up at him.

"He doesn't understand us and our ways yet children, he has been brought up to think we are not normal and it will take a while for him to change his opinion of us." Harry answered pulling the little girl onto his knee and hugging her, she began to play with his hair as he continued talking, "We have told him that he is not to talk about us that way and he will not get away with it if he does but for today we are just going to let him settle in , the poor boy has been through a lot in the last few weeks, it must be difficult going to live with a family you have never even met, especially when they are so different." The children accepted Harry's explanation and went off to play in the playroom until dinner later that day.

Vernon didn't venture out of his room for the remainder of the day and Ginny had to take him some dinner up before bedtime so that he had at least eaten something before he went to sleep, "You can eat this in here tonight Vernon, but from tomorrow you must come downstairs when we call you and you will play with the children as well, we understand that all of this is not easy for you but from tomorrow you will have to live by our rules, do you understand?" he nodded reluctantly at her and ate the food she had brought to him before settling down into his bed. She left him to sleep and went to tuck in her own children before retiring to the living room where Harry was sat staring at the fire Kreacher had lit earlier that day, she snuggled into his shoulder on the couch and let him twist his arm around her back, "Do you think we've done the right thing?" Harry asked as he stroked her back with his fingernails, "It's not going to be easy to change his attitude, it would have been easier if he had not known about us but now he's had Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia's opinions foisted on him for the last nine years he has already set his mind against us and our kind, it won't be easy to change that."

"I know Harry, but this is what Dudley wanted, and we will get there in the end, he's your family Harry and it is up to us to change his opinion of us and our world, I think somewhere in there he has some understanding he has been a little curious, we just need to find it and draw it out, and we will, eventually, we're just going to have to be patient."

"Patience with a Dursley is something I know a lot about, it's just that usually I am in their home, not the other way around." He pulled her into him and hugged her tightly rubbing his chin lovingly on the top of her head and hoping against all hope that she was right.

Three days later Harry was sat in the library with Albus and James teaching them about simple magic spells when he heard soft footsteps on the landing outside, Vernon had only ventured out of his room at meal times when he had been called to the table, and even then he had eaten without speaking to anyone other than to say please and thank you when he was told to by Ginny. They had gone over some of the rules they expected him to live by enforcing the one about being respectful to them, the children, Kreacher and any other magical visitors they had at the house, so far they had kept the rest of the family at bay.

When Ginny had picked up the children the day they had brought Vernon home she had suggested that no one visit for a few days until he had settled in a little more and the Weasleys and their friends had kept to their word. James had reluctantly sorted out a few of his toys for Vernon and Albus had graciously offered to take them up for the boy, after knocking gently on the door he had entered the room to find his third cousin laid on the bed simply staring at the ceiling, he had not uttered a word 

or even shifted his gaze to look at the boy who was trying to befriend him so Albus had placed the toys on the chest at the foot of the bed and left the room slowly.

At the sound on the landing Harry raised his head and the boys followed his gaze, rising from his seat he walked over to the door and pulled it open, Vernon was standing on the other side listening to what had been going on, he looked up at Harry like a startled rabbit and seemed speechless, it was evident that he had been eavesdropping on the lesson and had not wanted to be caught. "You can come in and join us if you want to Vernon," Harry said politely, "The boys won't mind." But Vernon shook his head and turned on his heel bolting back up the staircase two steps at a time, Harry watched him go and heard his bedroom door slam a few seconds later, sighing deeply he returned to his sons and continued the lesson.

Vernon did not venture out of his room again for another four days except to eat and by the time he had been there a week Ginny was beginning to get worried about him, "He's had a bit of time to get used to us now, Harry, I think we should make him come out for a few hours each day, I don't want to push him too far but he can't stay cooped up there forever can he?" she said as she set the table for dinner.

"I agree with you darling, tonight after we have eaten I will insist that he join us in the living room and play with the children, I think he is becoming curious about us now, the other day he was listening outside the library when I was teaching the boys, he didn't expect to get caught and I invited him to join us but he ran back up to his room. He wants to know more about us but Uncle Vernon's opinions are still affecting the way he thinks about us."

"Lily, sweetheart, go and get the boys for dinner please and ask James to call Vernon will you?" The little girl bounced up from her place by the fire and set off out of the kitchen to find them, she told her brothers to go down when she had reached the playroom but did not pass on the message to James about Vernon, instead she decided to tell him herself. She was curious about this cousin of her father's who had come to live with them, she knew he was a muggle and didn't know anything about magic but she couldn't understand why he stayed in his room all the time, Albus had tried to be friendly with him but nothing had made any difference to the chubby young boy who was somehow related to her.

As her brothers tidied away their game she set off slowly up the stairs to Vernon's bedroom, the door was slightly ajar when she reached it and she poked her head round quietly. Vernon was sat on the floor with his back to her, he was surrounded by the toys that James had sorted out for him and in his hand was a set of gobstones, he was rolling them back and forth in his hand. Lily pushed the door open a little wider and he turned round to look at her, she jumped back a little startled at his quick reaction, "What do you want?" he sneered.

"Mum sent me to get you for dinner," she said tentatively.

"I'm coming," he barked but he continued to sit there looking at the gobstones, "What are these?" he asked in a kinder tone.

"Gobstones," Lily replied and walked over to him, "You throw them, like this," she continued demonstrating how to play with them, "Then another player has a go and tries to knock yours out of a ring, the closer you get to the centre of the ring the more points you get and then they squirt stuff at the losers too, it's good fun, especially with Albus because he can't throw!" she chuckled and a small smile crept onto Vernon's face for a split second but it was so brief that Lily missed it. "We'd better go down, I can show you how to play properly after dinner if you want me to."

"No thanks," Vernon sneered his usual sullen look plastered on his face, then he followed Lily out of the room and down to the kitchen where James and Albus were already waiting for them at the table. Vernon took the same place he had taken all week and ate his food in silence, conversation flowed between the rest of the family and Ginny kept trying to include Vernon but he refused to join in.

"I'm going to go into the Ministry tomorrow Gin," Harry said as Kreacher served them a pudding of apple pie and ice cream, "I should thank Abery for the car last week, it was good of him to lend us it really." Ginny eyed him but nodded her head and continued with her desert, "Ron wanted me to pop into the shop to see him too so I'll do that while I'm out, perhaps I could pick up some jokes for Vernon." The boy's ears pricked up at the sound of his name and he looked over at Harry, "Ginny's brothers own a magic joke shop, I'll pick up a few more toys for you seeing as James didn't have many to spare for you." Vernon still did not speak and when he had finished his desert he stood up to go back to his room like he had every other night since his arrival. "Vernon, I think after dinner you should stay with the family for a bit, you are spending too much time in that room on your own, you should be playing with the children so you'll come to the living room with the rest of us after you have tidied away your things. It's been a week now and you have to start doing your share of the chores around here just like our children do, is that clear?" The boy nodded his head in understanding but the look on his face showed that he wasn't very happy about it.

"We could play gobstones," Lily piped up excitedly and Vernon just stared at her.

"An excellent idea sweetheart," Ginny said standing up and taking her own and Harry's dishes to the sink, "Albus go and get the sets from the playroom and I'll mark out a game board in the room, Kreacher will you be alright tidying up after us?" The little elf nodded at her eagerly, "You can retire when you've finished," he bowed low and then busied himself with the pots in the sink as the other Potters took their things and placed them on the side. Vernon followed suit and then made his way reluctantly up to the living room where he found Ginny with her wand drawing a circle on the carpet, he watched in awe as she used the item in her hand but his face returned to it's usual sullen look when she caught sight of him watching her, "Sit down Vernon, please remember this is your home now, you don't have to be invited all the time."

He sat on the floor near the fireplace and did not move for the rest of the evening, he refused to play with the others but he watched the game intently from his place on the outside, Harry decided not to force him into playing as it would not make things any easier for any of them, he was staying with them as he had been told to and Harry knew it was going to be a long and slow process. Vernon still had not spoken to any of them by the time Ginny took them all to bed, he stood up and walked to his room without saying goodnight and closed his bedroom door without a backward glance at the woman who was trying to make 

him feel as at home as she could. She prayed silently that night that it wouldn't take too long for the boy to come around but secretly she knew it was unlikely to happen soon.


	9. Chapter 9

**Please read and review!!**

Chapter 9

The next day Lily played quietly with her dolls in the corner holding miniature tea parties with her magic self filling tea set, Albus and James were intensely involved in a game of wizard chess while Vernon watched on from the side of the fireplace, Ginny had insisted he stay with the other children in the playroom after lunch but he still refused to join in with any games, he stared intently into the fire and occasionally glanced at the game going on at the table. Lily had approached him a few times and tried to get him to sit at her tea table but he had turned away from her with a sullen look on his face.

"Checkmate!" James shouted gleefully as he began to dance around the room punching the air with his hands, Lily looked up at her delighted brother who was punching the air with his hands and dancing around, Vernon watched on with his usual sneer on his face and Albus began to pack away the chess pieces.

"Freaks," Vernon said quietly, James stopped dancing immediately and stared in the direction of his cousin a look of shock on his face. Lily and Albus stopped what they were doing to look at the boy who had become part of their home and lives but had so far barely uttered a word to any of them.

"What did you call us?" James said standing with his hands on his hips and looking down at the boy by the fire.

"I said you were freaks," he repeated rising up to his full height which was slightly shorter than James, he too placed his hands on his hips and stared menacingly at the child who had just challenged him, he may have been shorter than the Potter boy by a couple of inches but he far outweighed him, "All of you, you're freaks," Vernon continued pointing a finger at James and then the other two children "with your stupid games and your magic no wonder my Grandparents were glad to see the back of your father, he only ever embarrassed them."

"SHUT UP!" James screamed at the larger boy squaring up to him, "We are not freaks, you're the freak because you can't do magic, and our Dad would never embarrass anyone!"

"What do you know?" Vernon retorted, "Freaks!"

"Stop saying that, you can't call us that."

"I'll call you what I like you stupid freaks," their faces were mere inches apart now and Albus had moved over to place a protective arm around his sister who's eyes were brimming with tears, "You can't do anything about it, I know you can't do any of your stupid magic yet not until you go to that weird school of yours." James's face was now almost purple with anger, they had treaded carefully around the boy since his arrival unable to imagine what it must be like to lose almost all of your family like that and then have to go and live with strangers but he was not going to allow him to push them all around and insult them in this way, he would stand his ground with or without magic.

"I can still fight the muggle way," Lily gasped she had seen her brothers argue with each other and with their cousins but she had never seen them physically fight, it had never been allowed and it was something they would never even think of doing.

"You wouldn't last five minutes," Vernon sneered glaring at the skinnier young boy still holding his nose only inches from his own, he was much stronger looking than James but the latter was not backing down. Lily and Albus watched in horror as their older brother lifted his hand and balled it into a fist, drawing it back quickly he put as much force behind it as he could muster and aimed upwards into Vernon's face, for a second they both looked shocked that he had actually done it but then the larger boy retaliated and laid a punch into James' stomach, he keeled over and fell to the floor where Vernon launched himself on top of the other boy and they began to roll around the playroom floor fighting and shouting at each other.

Lily ran to the top of the stairs and screamed for her mother, who came bounding up them two at a time, as she entered the room in front of her daughter she stopped and looked aghast at the two boys still rolling around on the floor, "JAMES, VERNON," she bellowed but the boys ignored her, they were too engrossed in their fight. "STOP IT," she shouted again and tried to grab hold of James but he shook her off and continued pummelling Vernon. Ginny Potter withdrew her wand from the inside of her robes and aimed it at the two boys, "Spirilate," she called and the two boys appeared to be pulled apart by invisible hands which lifted them both from the ground and placed them on their backs a few feet away from each other, James sat up quickly and glared at the other boy who raised himself up into a sitting position but instead of looking at James he turned to face the woman who had just performed magic on him, "How dare you?" he spat at her, "How dare you use that...that stuff on me?"

"Vernon Dursley you will not speak to me like that in my own house, if you are fighting and refuse to stop I will use any method I like to split you up, even if that happens to be magic. Now get yourself up off your bottom and the pair of you get to your rooms for the rest of the day, you can explain yourselves to your father," she said glaring at her own son, "When he returns from the Ministry, until them I don't want to hear a peep out of either of you."

"You can't make me do anything, you...you...FREAK." Vernon bellowed at her and she turned to glare at the boy who had been placed under her protection.

"Young man, we have tried to make the last couple of weeks as comfortable as possible for you but like it or not your father requested that you live with us and we are now your legal guardians and while you are under this roof you will behave respectfully towards me, Harry and the children do you understand? We are not freaks, we are different to you and your family, your grandparents may not have had a lot of respect for us but we are decent people who are going to do our best to bring you up as a muggle in a wizarding home and if you are going to fight with the children you will be treated in the same way that they are and punished accordingly, even if that involves us having to use magic on you. Now get up to that bedroom and wait until Harry returns from the ministry," she pointed at the door and placed her other hand on her hip, she had an angry look on her face which would have rivalled Molly Weasley. "And you," she shouted at her eldest son who, looking like a dog with his tail 

between his legs, left the room immediately and trudged up the stairs slowly muttering under his breath, Ginny turned again to look at Vernon who was still sat on the floor glaring back at her, "Now," she boomed and the boy reluctantly rose to his feet following James out of the door and up the stairs to his own room. Ginny heaved a loud sigh and looked at her other two children, sensing that she was stressed they both approached her and gave her a hug which put a smile on her face.

"He was mean about us, Mum," Albus said, "He called us all freaks and said that his grandparents were glad to see the back of Dad when he left, that he'd only ever embarrassed them, James just got angry with him." Ginny began to stroke her youngest son's back and leaned over to kiss him on the head, "I know, and I understand why James got angry at him, but no matter what he says or does I will not have any fighting or duelling in this house. James should know that, I respect him for wanting to stand up for his father and then rest of us but he cannot take the matter into his own hands like that. Plus, no matter how difficult Vernon is for us, he is part of this family now. I would have done exactly the same thing if it had been you two fighting like that." Albus looked up at his mother and she ruffled his hair playfully, "I wonder when your father will be home? He's been gone for a while now," she said standing up and heading towards the door, "You two play quietly while I help Kreacher make a start on dinner."

It was almost time to eat when Harry appeared in the emerald flames of the fireplace, he stepped out with a smile on his face and a large packet in his arms, "Daddy," Lily shouted as he stepped into the room and a weary looking Ginny turned to look at him, she had attempted to talk to James and Vernon again about their behaviour and while James had apologised Vernon had simply refused to acknowledge her, laying on his bed and staring resolutely at the wall. She had tried speaking to him calmly and explaining why she had had to speak to him and use magic on him, she had then tried raising her voice and shouting at him but he had not spoken or turned to look at her so she had given in and left him to wallow in his room. James had been allowed to come out of his room after apologising and was sitting quietly in a corner with some toys feeling somewhat sorry for himself.

"Are you alright, darling?" Harry asked noticing the weary look on his wife's face and stepping over to her. She shook her head at him but smiled too, "Sorry I've been gone all day, I was thanking Abery for the car and then I went to the joke shop and picked up some toys," he indicated the box which he placed on the table, "And...er Ron kept me talking."

"Trust that brother of mine," she answered wearily. "I hope none of that stuff is for James or Vernon," Ginny indicated the box and Harry looked at her quizzically. "They were fighting, muggle fighting in the playroom today and I had to use my wand to pry them apart," Harry's eyes got wider as she explained, "Vernon called me a freak and shouted at me for daring to use magic on him, I sent them to their rooms and James finally apologised but Vernon is still refusing to, I tried to talk to him again about things being different for him but I don't know how much more it will take to convince him and bring him round, he may have been influenced too much by your Aunt and Uncle." She sagged against the sink as she finished and Harry rushed to her side to hug her tightly.

"I'm sorry honey, maybe we were wrong to bring him here, maybe this is too much for him."

"No, Dudley wanted us to have him, he obviously had a reason for that, I won't give up on him Harry," the Weasley vigour came out of her as she continued, "Not if it takes all my life, it's just tiring and he doesn't respond to me quite as much as he does you."

"I'll talk to him again Gin," he held her tightly for a few more minutes and then went to talk to his eldest son, he was stern with the boy but knew Ginny had dealt with his punishment, he just wanted to know what had possessed him to fight in the muggle way. Then he went to speak to Vernon, the boy was as adamant as ever that Ginny should not have used any magic on him and screamed at Harry in much the same way he had to Ginny earlier in the day, he tried different ways of speaking to Vernon but eventually lost his patience and told the boy he would have to get used to his new situation and until he apologised to Ginny he would not be allowed down to eat his evening meal. The insolent child had turned his back on Harry at that point so the raven haired wizard had left him to his room reiterating the comment that he would not eat until he had apologised.

When she heard about his punishment Ginny was a little shocked as she would never have denied her children their meals but she soon realised that maybe it was a good idea in Vernon's case, with her own children it would never have got to this point and it would not hurt Vernon to miss a meal or two, she would make sure that Kreacher took him at least a drink and a slice of bread before bedtime but anything else was out of the question.

The family ate animatedly and Harry told them stories he had heard from Abery about the auror's missions to track down and capture dark wizards, James wanted to be just like his Dad and loved to hear tales of chasing wizards and performing spells on them that only aurors knew. They had told their children about Harry's past as an auror but they did not know about his whole defeat of Voldemort or the capture of their mother which almost stopped them from getting married. The children often asked why he had stopped being an auror but they never shared his final mission with them either, it had been a difficult time for them both and although they all knew that Harry had been missing when James was born they thought he was on routine mission and had decided afterwards that he would leave the auror office to take care of his new family.

By bedtime the children were happy and contented and went to bed without any fuss, James took slightly more calming down than the rest because he wanted Harry to tell him more stories but he eventually settled down to sleep and Ginny and Harry retired to the living room to spend a little bit of quality time together. Curled up on the couch together Harry played with strands of her hair while Ginny traced circles on his chest, they talked about the day and Harry apologised again for not being around when Vernon had kicked off at her.

"So how come you were so long with Ron?" she asked quizzically. Harry coughed a little before answering as if he needed to think of an answer that would not get him in trouble.

"Well, er...that's something I kind of need to talk to you about Gin," she sat up and looked at him with a puzzled look on her face.

"Why does it sound like I'm not going to like it?" Harry coughed again and Ginny's stare became scrutinous.

"He...they..." her gaze became more intense and Harry felt himself shrinking, he lifted her from his body and stood up walking over to the fire.

"Harry?"

"They, well he and George they are wanting to extend the business a bit and now that Hogsmeade is back to it's prosperous ways they wanted to open a branch up there, the old Zonkos place is still empty but it'll need a lot doing to it to get it fit for a joke shop again, and well Ron's sort of asked me if I'll help him out with it, but it might mean me going up there a lot and being away from here more."

"How often?" she asked softly.

"A few days a week, for a few months I would imagine, Ron really wants to get it looking good before he opens and Hermione can't help him because she's at work and there's the children to sort out too so he asked me because...well I don't work. It'd be kind of nice to do something again really, not that I don't love being with you and the children because I do but I...I'd like to be more active again you know do something worthwhile...and it's for Ron and George really...and I...I just...it'll..." he stopped as she rose from the couch and walked over to him.

"Honey, it's fine, I don't mind if you want to help Ron," she watched him relax and smiled softly, "Am I that bad?"

"What? No," he replied as she put her arms around him, "I just didn't know if you'd want me to be away again after last time," he looked down at his feet.

"Harry, it's a joke shop, with my brother," Harry looked at his feet, "I doubt there are going to be a faction of joke shop owners who will kidnap you for your comical magic and wipe your memory so they can seduce you and get all your secrets!" Harry lifted his head and gazed guiltily into her eyes. "I think a few months doing up an old joke shop with Ron might be good fun for both of you!" she giggled and kissed him gently, he responded to her touch and she could feel him relax even more as they went back to their curled up position on the couch. They laid a while longer and Ginny asked questions about the new shop which Harry seemed to find difficult to answer, but then she thought Ron probably didn't know much about it yet, she would be better off asking Hermione the next time they saw each other.

Shortly before eleven Ginny began drifting off to sleep so Harry suggested they go up to bed, as she slid off the couch and got to her feet they heard a creak outside the door, they both turned to look at the doorway and watched as the heavy oak door slowly swung open and a wide, chubby face peered around it looking sheepish.

"Vernon," Ginny said gently, "What are you doing out of bed?" she walked towards the door and opened it fully. Vernon coughed uncomfortably and whispered quietly, "I'm hungry," he then looked up at the witch in front of him and with a glint of contempt in his eyes whispered almost inaudibly, "And I'm sorry." He glared at Harry who was watching the scene from the side of the fireplace, he could see the disdain in Vernon's eyes but also realised it had taken quite a lot for the boy to come down and apologise. Harry recalled his childhood hatred of the Dursleys and remembered how much he had hated to be polite to them, he knew Vernon's opinion of them at the moment was similar to Harry's memory so he stepped forward and smiled at the boy.

"Thank you Vernon," Ginny said looking at her husband, "Let's get you down to the kitchen for something to eat, off you go." She ushered the boy out of the room and down the stairs where she sat him at the table and made him a ham and cheese sandwich with a glass of pumpkin juice. As she placed it down on the table in front of him he muttered under his breath, "Thank you," before tucking in to the simple meal heartily, Ginny smiled again at him, he had not meant her to hear him say thank you so she didn't acknowledge it as she busied herself cleaning up the crumbs. When he had finished eating he looked curiously at Ginny as she put utensils away, "Is everything alright, Vernon?" she asked when she saw him staring.

"What?...Oh yes," he coughed uncomfortably again and then continued in his usual gruff voice, "I'll go back to bed then," he glanced at her one last time before closing the kitchen door behind him and Ginny pretended not to notice, minutes later Harry entered the room and sidled up behind her.

"He was watching me curiously just then, like he wanted to say something to me and he said thank you when I gave him some food, he didn't want me to hear him though."

"Maybe your wonderfulness has found a tiny crack in my poor cousin's child. It could be the beginning of a change!"

"Hmm, or maybe he was just hungry."

They retired to bed when Ginny had finished cleaning up, checking on the children once first and finding Vernon curled up asleep in his bed facing the door, "Going without his tea makes him tired huh?" Harry chuckled.

"It may have worked this time Harry, but it's not a punishment I want to use often with him, it is not fair to deprive him of food."

"Whatever you say darling," he replied wrapping an arm around her.

"So when is the first trip up to Hogsmeade then?" she asked as they climbed into bed minutes later.

"What? Er...oh yeah er...Hogsmeade, I...I think Ron wanted us to go up soon, to er...check things out before we start...I'll..I'll ask him tomorrow, let's get off to sleep honey you've had a long day." He wrapped his arms around her and she snuggled into his shoulder wondering why he seemed so cagy about the shop in Hogsmeade, perhaps he didn't think she was completely on side with the idea and she resolved to reassure him when they woke the next morning.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The next morning Harry took some of the toys and jokes from Ron and George's shop up to Vernon's bedroom, the boy was still sleeping and he found himself watching him for a while realising just how much he looked like a young Dudley Dursley as if sensing that he was there Vernon opened his eyes and stared up at Harry, for a moment he seemed to stare at him without disdain in his eyes but then the usual glare took over his face and Harry shook himself slightly to remind himself why he was there.

"I brought you some toys from the joke shop, Vernon, you can have a look through them when you get up, breakfast will be ready soon," he left the room without expecting or waiting for a reply from the boy and joined his family at the kitchen table.

Over the next few days Vernon spent more time with the family, he wouldn't play with any of the children and only spoke when he was spoken to by Harry or Ginny but he did begin to play with a few of the jokes and toys Harry had given him, every so often Harry would catch him watching Ginny curiously and wondered if he was starting to come around to her in some way, he appeared slightly less contemptuous when he spoke to her and Harry was hoping this was the beginning of him softening in some way. While he and James did not fight again Harry did catch them arguing again a few times but it was mostly his son provoking the other boy and he chastised James warning him to stay away from Vernon if he could not be nice to him.

Harry and Hermione went to a local muggle school and enrolled his young cousin, they had decided that for the introduction Hermione would be better suited to accompany Harry as they had both attended muggle schools before being admitted to Hogwarts. He introduced her as his sister in law and explained that his wife was busy. After informing the headteacher about Vernon's situation she took them on a tour of the school and introduced the boy to some of his new classmates, Harry could see the glint in his eye that Dudley used to have and knew it wouldn't be long before he was ruling the groups in school.

Vernon was not at all phased about starting a new school and insisted on being independent enough to walk himself there and back. On the first day Ginny followed him at a distance but then she allowed him to go alone realising that he was in some sense alone in the world and needed to do things by himself. The other children found it quite strange that Vernon attended a school before the age of eleven while they continued to have a magical education at home with their parents, but they accepted it as the muggle way.

He would attend school every day and join the family for dinner in the evening, Vernon became slightly more conversational once he had started school but would still only talk to people if they spoke to him first and he flatly refused to interact with James, Albus and Lily at all, he had begun to do his school homework at the kitchen table with Ginny watching over him, he never accepted her help but she would stay in the room and keep him company as he spent hours on the tasks. Harry was quite shocked to realise how intelligent Vernon was being the son of his cousin who had never strived to do well in school, he had had his fists to get him through life and had assumed Vernon would be on the same path. However the boy seemed to enjoy studying and at the end of his first week when Ginny and Harry visited Vernon's class teacher they were pleased to hear that he had settled in well and was a bright young boy. Harry dared to hope that this was another sign that he was beginning to change but these hopes were dashed when they received a note from the headmistress asking them to come into school and speak to her.

The letter came by post one morning and caused a stir in the Potter house as it was the first piece of muggle post they had received since Harry had been informed of his family member's deaths. Ginny opened it and began to read the official letter insisting that they attend a meeting that morning at eleven am about their ward's behaviour at school, she passed the note to Harry and frowned at Vernon who smirked back at them both. Harry had never had to deal with this kind of thing before, apart from the occasional arguments and such his own children were never in this much trouble and as none of them had attended school yet they had never had any dealings with a headteacher, he thought about how to handle the situation before opening his mouth to speak. "Vernon, what is this about? We have to meet with your headmistress at eleven o clock about your behaviour."

"He deserved it," the boy retorted in a gruff voice, "Shouldn't have called me an orphan like he did should he?"

"Vernon, what did you do?" Harry asked a little more sternly.

"Nothing he didn't have coming to him, thinks he was so hard because he had his mates with him, but they were all smaller than me weren't they? He won't do it again. He knows I'm the leader now." Harry suddenly began to see that side of him that was like the Dudley Dursley he had known as a child and that small ray of hope in side him began to wilt.

"What did you do Vernon?" Harry asked in an even sterner voice and his children turned to look at the interaction, they had only heard this voice from their father on rare occasions as their mother usually dealt with their discipline, "Vernon," he barked when the young boy still didn't reply.

"I flushed his head down the toilet," he chuckled and Harry exploded. "You did what?" He vividly remembered having the same thing done to him when he was at school by the father of the very boy sat in front of him and he recalled that it wasn't a very pleasant experience. "Vernon, you cannot behave like that, I will not have it do you hear? My children don't, and never will behave like that and while you are living under my roof you will not behave like that either, do you understand me?" He had risen to his feet and moved around the table to tower over Vernon who seemed to cower slightly as he had never seen Harry behave like this before, but after a second's hesitation he jumped up from his seat at the table and screamed back in Harry's face, "You can't tell me what to do, you are not my father, you're the FREAK!" The rest of the room gasped and watched on as Harry's face became redder and redder.

"Vernon, I have told you repeatedly not to use that word in this house, we are not freaks we are different to you, that is all."

"You're not, you're all freaks, you were an embarrassment to my grandparents and now I have to be punished by being forced to live here with the FREAKS!"

"VERNON," Harry bellowed surprising himself with the force and volume of his shout, "Get out of this room now, get yourself to school and when you come home you go straight to your room until I hear an apology from you, do you hear me? We will deal with the headmistress when we see her but this is not over, you have to get used to the fact that from now on I am your guardian whether you like it or not."

The chubby young child dove through the door and slammed it shut behind him, seconds later they all heard the front door slam too as Harry returned to his seat at the breakfast table, the children dare not speak to him while he was in this mood and they finished their meals quickly and excused themselves to escape to the playroom, when they had gone Harry realised he was shaking a little and he put his head in his hands. Ginny approached him and placed her hands gently on his shoulders, rubbing circles in them she allowed him to speak first and had to wait a few moments before he did.

"I shouldn't have lost my temper with him like that."

"Don't be so hard on yourself Harry, we knew this would never be easy and he has to learn somehow, we'll go and see the headmistress together and let the school know that he will be punished. I'm not sure it should be sending him to his room though, we need to get him to interact with us more, he can spend the weekend helping Kreacher to clean out the kitchen cupboards, I'm sure he won't enjoy that very much." Harry sighed and leaned his head back against his wife's stomach, she was still rubbing his shoulders and her touch reminded him that he was not alone in this.

"I was supposed to go up to Hogsmeade with Ron today to look over Zonkos and decide what we need to do," he sighed, "Now I have to go into Vernon's school instead."

"You go with Ron, I'll sort everything at the school, the kids can go over to the Burrow while I'm there and I'll bring Vernon home after school and he can start straight away with Kreacher," she moved around the chair and sat on his knee, as she put her arms around his neck he smiled up at her and said, "I don't deserve you, do you know that?" Ginny smiled back at him and kissed him gently on the lips before rising up from his knee and cleaning up the breakfast things. "You'd better get a move on over to Ron's, I'll get the kids ready to go to Mum's, will you be back late?"

Harry looked at his feet nervously before answering, "I'm not really sure, I don't know how much he wants to do, I'll let you know if I won't be home for teatime ok?"

"Alright honey," she replied walking over and kissing him on the cheek.

After seeing James, Albus and Lily off at the fireplace Ginny headed upstairs to dress in muggle clothing instead of her house robes and then made her way to Jonas Street School which was around the corner from their home. A receptionist led her into the headmistress' office as soon as she had explained who she was, "Mrs Potter," the stern faced lady on the other side of the desk said as she rose and held out her hand, Ginny shook it gently and sat down when the headmistress gestured to the seat opposite her, "I am Mrs Trent, the headmistress, thank you for coming so soon." Ginny nodded at the lady who continued softly, "I am sorry that I needed to call you into school but I thought it best that we speak about the matter, has Vernon told you about the incident?"

"Yes, he told us this morning."

"May I ask what, exactly, he told you about it?" Ginny looked a little puzzled at the question.

"He told us that he had..." she coughed a little to hide her embarrassment at having to deal with this problem, her own children would never have done anything quite as serious as this, even if they did have a little of Fred and George in them. "He said he had flushed a young boy's head down the toilet because he had made fun of him for being an orphan."

Mrs Trent nodded her head and then pursed her lips, "Yes that is true I'm afraid, but it is not the first incident that Vernon has had since he began school, though it is the most serious. Unfortunately he has not settled in too well, we have tried to be a little lenient with him considering his circumstances, but I am afraid we have reached our limit and we cannot tolerate any kind of physical interaction of this kind with another pupil."

"I completely agree, Mrs Trent, and please do not try to treat Vernon differently, yes he has been through a lot but we believe that he needs to be treated as a normal child and learn to behave appropriately. You have both mine and my husband's full support to punish Vernon as you see fit, and you can rest assured that he will be punished at home too. He is finding it difficult to settle in there but we are not allowing that to get in the way of us disciplining him, I am afraid that his parents were quite lax in that department and we are struggling a little to get him to behave as we expect our own children to." Ginny sighed wearily but continued to look at the woman in front of her.

"Oh, I didn't realise you had children of your own, I understand that Vernon is Mr Potter's cousin and only living relative, but I'm afraid I assumed that he was your only child, Vernon has never mentioned any other family either." Ginny suddenly realised that it may look strange that her children did not attend that same school as Vernon, in fact any school at all and quickly tried to divert the conversation.

"Yes, we have three children but they attend a private school paid for by their grandparents, Vernon was insistent that he wanted to go to a 'normal' school as he called it so we decided on this one for him as it is closest to our home." Mrs Trent nodded.

"Well back to the matter at hand, Joseph's mother, that is the boy who was involved in the incident, is happy that we have dealt with the situation in school, she realises that Vernon was provoked by her son and does not wish to take the matter further by speaking to you and your husband," Ginny heaved a sigh of relief, she had worried a little that she might also have to face the other boy's parents and explain why she was struggling to control her new ward. "He has been removed from the classroom for a half day internal exclusion and is working alone outside the deputy headteacher's office, he will be allowed back into the class this afternoon and will hopefully have learned his lesson. The class teacher is also doing some work with the class to try and address the issue of Vernon being made fun of for being an orphan and we will be keeping a close eye on the rest of his class to ensure it is not still going on. I do find that Vernon can be quite reclusive, he does not like to interact with the others and I feel that this is not helping his situation, he doesn't have any friends at all yet, though I know his teacher has tried to initiate some friendships for him."

"He is the same at home, he will not interact with our children either and we have to force him to stay with us most of the time."

"I suppose he has been through a great deal, losing your parents is a difficult thing for anyone to go through, never mind a child. Once he is back in the classroom we will endeavour to build some relationships for him again, perhaps he just needs a little time?" she suggested and Ginny nodded her agreement. "Well thank you for your time, Mrs Potter, I do feel that when a serious situation arises it is best to speak to the parent or guardian and explain the situation."

"I agree completely, thank you for letting us know about the situation, we will be sure to deal with it at home aswell. I would appreciate it if you would keep in contact with us regularly and let us know how Vernon is settling in," she smiled politely at the head teacher assuming that she had said the right thing as dealing with school teachers was not something she was used to doing.

Later that evening an owl arrived carrying a small bunch of flowers and a note from Harry to say that he was extremely sorry but he would not be able to make tea, he did not elaborate on why but Ginny assumed they had got carried away with ideas for the old Zonkos premises, she filled a vase with water for the flowers and then returned to the kitchen table where she was baking with her children. Vernon had returned home from school and tried to sneak upstairs without being seen, Ginny however had been awaiting his arrival and as he passed the children's playroom where she had been entertaining Lily she had called out to him, the young boy had turned around begrudgingly and entered the room with a sullen face, in a calm but firm voice she had said to him, "Vernon you will spend the weekend helping Kreacher to clean out the kitchen cupboards as punishment for your behaviour at school, I visited Mrs Trent today and she explained the situation, while I realise you were provoked by the other child we still cannot allow you to behave like that, I understand you have been punished at school but you will also be punished here. Kreacher is waiting downstairs for you, and make sure you do your share of the work, remember Kreacher will not lie to me so I will know if you haven't." Vernon had then trudged back down the stairs and set to work.

Now he was sat on a stool in the kitchen corner cleaning some old Black crested silverware which they never used and watching Ginny with the Potter children, they were making pumpkin biscuits with chocolate chips but there was more biscuit mix on the table top than in the bowl, Lily was trying to stir it with a big spoon but it was so stiff that it barely moved and the curious boy in the corner watched as Ginny flicked her wand and made the spoon move a little bit more, unaware that her mother had helped, Lily let out a short whoop of joy, James' mouth opened to tell her why it had happened but Albus elbowed him and he closed it again. Vernon began to feel something inside of him, he wasn't sure what it was but he was looking so strangely at Ginny that she stopped what she was doing when she felt his gaze upon her, however when their eyes met he looked back at his work and continued to scrub as hard as he could at the silver stain on the knife in his hand.

He glanced at the family scene again and stopped what he was doing, it looked like fun and he suddenly felt a longing to be part of the activity, he watched Ginny showing her children how to put the right amount of mixture on the baking sheet to create a large biscuit, then he watched them wiping out the bowl with their fingers and dabbing the mixture on each others' faces, a warm feeling began to spread through his body but it was quickly replaced when he remembered that this was not his family and therefore he would never be part of an activity like this. He picked up another fork to clean but found his gaze wondering back to the scene at the table where James and Albus were finding ingredients to make a different batch of biscuits while Lily was wiping the table down. As Albus poured flour into a bowl on the weighing scales he spilt some on the table which James immediately blew into the air causing Lily to laugh hysterically, he was chastised gently by his mother who glanced into the corner again as Vernon put his head back down to his task.

Carefully Ginny approached the boy and knelt down beside him, "Vernon," she said softly, "would you like to help us with this batch of biscuits?" He looked up at her and shook his head but she could see a sort of longing in his eyes, "Come on, you've been doing that for a long time now, you can carry on with it in the morning, join us at the table and help us with the baking."

Vernon glanced at the children who were pouring ingredients into the bowl, Ginny could still see the longing in his eyes and she smiled softly at him gesturing towards the table with her head again. He put the fork down on the cloth on the floor and stood up slowly, Ginny took hold of his hand and for a second he flinched at the touch but then he relaxed and allowed her to lead him over to the table where James was dusting his hands with flour and trying to put them on Lily's face, she was squirming away from him while Albus came to her defence, Vernon smiled despite himself but quickly dropped it when the three of them looked at him and stopped. "Vernon," said Ginny, "why don't you measure out some sugar on the scales," she pointed towards them but he just stared at them without moving.

"Help me, Vernon," Lily whispered, "I can't lift the sugar bag without spilling it and James just makes fun of me," she looked at her older brother and stuck her tongue out at him as she moved down the table to the weighing scales. Ginny let go of Vernon's hand and gave him a little push towards the scales beaming down at her daughter as she did so, he walked round the table and lifted up the sugar bag for Lily, "You pour and I'll tell you when we have enough," she said to him and he began to tilt it so the tiny sugar crystals poured out like a smooth waterfall. "Stop," Lily whispered when he had poured enough, "now put it 

into the bowl over there and mix it," she gestured. The boy looked at her as if she had told him to fly to the moon but he obeyed her command taking the bowl from the scales and putting it into the mixing bowl.

Albus handed him the wooden spoon and slowly he began to mix the ingredients, his size and weight meant he didn't have any trouble doing it like Lily had so Ginny just stood back and watched him finally interacting with her own children in a fun activity, slowly a smile crept across his face and it stayed there as they put the biscuits out on a baking tray and began to clean out the bowl again, he even allowed Lily to daub some of the mixture on his nose and laughed as he tried to return the favour chasing her around the table. The boys watched on laughing at Lily squealing and running away from the larger boy who was still smiling, "Get her, Vernon," James called. At these words the boy stopped immediately and looked at what he was doing, hearing James egging him on seemed to switch something in his head, he remembered where he was and who these people were and he seemed to think that something was wrong, Lily had not noticed him stopping and continued to squeal and run round the table but the rest of them looked curiously at Vernon who was staring strangely at the biscuit mix on his finger as if it was something alien to him. Ginny stepped towards him and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, the touch seemed to snap him again and he shrugged her away, he looked in turn at the children before wiping his finger on his trouser leg and running from the room, they heard him pounding up the stairs but Ginny allowed him to go. The children stared at her with a look of confusion but she shrugged her shoulders at them and began to clean up the mess.

By the time Harry flooed back into the kitchen fireplace everyone, including Ginny, was tucked up in bed. He crept around the kitchen and made himself a sandwich which he ate quickly as he had not eaten anything all day, he saw the trays of biscuits which had been cooling on the table and took a couple in his hands as he set off up the stairs to his room. Harry expected his wife to be sleeping soundly when he reached the room but was surprised to find her sat up in bed reading by candlelight, "Hey, honey," she said softly.

"You're still up," he stated.

"I was waiting for you, I take it you and Ron got carried away with ideas then?" she said lightheartedly.

"What? Oh at Zonkos? Yes...yeah, lots of ideas...it's in a bit of a state so we think it's probably going to take a while. Sorry I'm late though."

"You look tired," she replied noticing a weary look on his face as he climbed into bed beside her, "like you've been active all day. I thought you were just coming up with ideas up there," Ginny glared at him curiously, he hadn't come home looking this tired at the end of a day since his auror days when he was trailing dark wizards around undercover in all manner of terrible places.

"We...well we were but then Ron thought we could do a bit of moving around and thinking about where to put things, we cleaned it up a bit and started taking down walls and stuff...decided to do it manually for a while, you know a bit of men demolishing rather than wand work.

"Boys!" she responded and turned onto her side to face him, he was as physically fit as he had always been and she loved to trail her hands along his chest, he was strong and toned and it still made her shiver when she felt the taughtness of his body beneath her fingers, laying her head gently on his shoulder she began to wind her hands further and further down his body and felt him relax under her touch, he was already aroused by the time she reached his naval but remembering how tired he look she began to withdraw it so he could get some sleep. "What's the matter?" he whispered grabbing her hand as it moved away.

"You're tired," she whispered.

"Tired, yes," he chuckled, "but not dead!" Then he turned his body and rolled her over until she was laid flat on her back, he gently pushed her legs apart as he climbed on top of her and softly began to kiss her naked body all over until he could contain himself no longer.

Twenty minutes later they lay in each others' arms she with her head in the crook of his shoulder again and he tracing circles on her back and placing soft kisses on the top of her head. "I missed you today," she murmured lifting up her head to look at him, "I'm not used to you being out so late!" he chuckled uncomfortably at her joke but looked away guiltily, "hey," she continued turning his head back to face her with her hand, "I don't mind! I'm not one of those wives who has to know exactly where you are every second of the day, and besides the kids kept me occupied as usual. I suppose I'll have to get used to it while you and Ron have your male bonding time on the shop," she giggled and he relaxed a little.

"I forgot to ask how everything went with Vernon's head teacher. I'm sorry I wasn't there," he looked guilty again and she kissed him softly on the lips before explaining what had happened at the meeting.

"When he got in I made him start cleaning with Kreacher for a few hours," she finished and Harry laid back on his pillow putting his hands under his head.

"I'll talk to him again in the morning and apologise for losing my temper with him, he needs to be punished and I won't allow him to speak to us or about us the way he did this morning but I shouldn't have shouted at him so much, it's not going to help him settle in with us is it?"

"It's funny you should say that actually," Ginny interjected.

"Why?"

"Well I was baking those biscuits that you took off the table earlier..."

"What? How did you...?"

"You had crumbs around your mouth when you got into bed," she chuckled. "Anyway, we were baking and he was sat in the corner cleaning that old Black silverware and I could feel him watching us, he'd been working without complaint for two hours and he seemed interested in what we were doing so I went over and asked him to join us, he was reluctant but I could see a sort of longing in his eyes so I kept trying and he stood up. I took hold of his hand and he let me then he walked over to the table with me, Lily was fantastic, she asked him to help her pour out the sugar and he did. He carried on helping us and smiling too, then when we'd finished the last batch he even let Lily daub some of it on his nose and started chasing her around the table with some of the leftover mixture on his finger. He was actually smiling and enjoying himself," Harry looked pleased and beamed at Ginny, "but then James tried to egg him on to catch her and Vernon just stopped and looked at what he was doing, then he wiped his finger and ran off to his room, it was so strange like he felt guilty for enjoying himself or something," she looked unhappy and Harry instinctively reached his arms around her and pulled her close.

"It was a start I suppose, maybe I should ask him about it tomorrow too, at least he was interacting with them at last."

"Yes, I hope he'll do it again, I suppose it was a large step for him really, but I don't want him to feel guilty for playing with us."

"I know Darling," he cooed, "like I said I'll talk to him about it in the morning."


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: I hope this gives a good insight into Vernon's feelings about things, there is a bit more to the story coming up soon involving Harry and Ginny, I feel the story might be a bit slow at this point but it will get going, I just wanted to portray some of the stuff the family would go through if they had a muggle (and a Dursley muggle at that!) thrown into them.**

**Please read and review, I've had readers but few reviewers! Is this story...?**

**Disclaimer: Realised I haven't put this on for a while but as always these are only my ideas on where I see the Potters going, I claim nothing about the characters, places etc... used in my stories, they all belong to JK Rowling, I just borrowed them cause I don't want to leave Harry and everyone else behind - yet!**

Chapter 11

Ginny left Harry to sleep in the next morning while she got the children out of bed and played with them all in the playroom, Vernon returned to cleaning with Kreacher in the kitchen as soon as they had eaten and he did it without complaint at all, he wouldn't look up from his breakfast as they ate and Ginny longed for him to interact with them again as he had done the night before. Harry got up and joined his family in the playroom for a few minutes before searching out Vernon to talk to him, he apologised for shouting at him the previous day and the child nodded in response but still would not speak to him, not wanting to push it to another argument Harry sighed and left him to his task, joining his family back in the playroom where he spent most of the day until teatime when they prepared to go to the Burrow for a family meal. It was George's birthday and Molly was putting on her usual spread for the whole family, Harry still loved to be part of these huge gatherings and secretly hoped that Vernon might enjoy it too especially as he had now briefly interacted with his children.

"Vernon, we're ready to go can you come down now thank you?" Ginny called up the stairs as the rest of the family gathered by the fireplace ready to floo to the Burrow. The boy came down the stairs quietly and walked straight past Ginny without acknowledging her, "You'll floo with me Vernon," she told him "after the boys have gone," she nodded at them and in turn they stepped into the fireplace and disappeared, Harry and Lily had already gone on before them so Ginny held out her hand to Vernon who stared at it for a few seconds before taking hold and walking into the fireplace with her, Ginny threw the floo powder into the air, despite himself he had become more and more intrigued by the magic that was all around him as the days of living with his magical family passed by. Vernon felt a battle was constantly raging in his head as he thought about all the things his grandparents had said to him about Harry and his world , how wrong it was and how they were all freaks but the longer he was with them the more magic he saw and the more he wanted to know about it.

Seconds later they stepped out into the kitchen of the Burrow where it appeared to Vernon that chaos was raining down upon them, he didn't think he had ever seen as many people all in one kitchen before and he had never even known anyone who had as large a family as the Weasleys did, he had met a few of them when they had been to the house but this was the first time he had been to the family home and he didn't like it. If Grimmauld place had been weird, this was the icing on the cake, it was cluttered up to the ceiling with anything and everything, object upon object teetered on top of each other threatening to collapse at anytime, there were hundreds of pictures stuck to the wall, drawings made by children that were moving around and photographs behaving like videos ranging from old sepia coloured ones to bright new ones showing the Weasley grandchildren.

On a dresser along the opposite wall to the fireplace was an odd assortment of crockery, not one piece matched another in size or pattern. As Vernon looked at them they began to hurtle across the room skidding over the surface of the long wooden table in the centre of the room and stopping in different places with a short screech. One came scuttling past his face almost catching his nose and he jumped backwards, "George," a voice shrieked from his left, "Do it properly, you don't have to do everything by magic you know, I thought you'd have grown out of that by now." Vernon looked over at the voice and noticed that it was Ginny's mother, he had met her a few times at the house and she had tried to hug him on all those occasions, but he had pulled himself out of the way and decided to steer clear of her whenever he could.

"Ginny, Vernon," she exclaimed loudly as she made a beeline for them leaving a wooden spoon stirring by itself in the pot over the stove, "How are you?" she asked the boy not trying to hug him this time, for which he was gratefully relieved. He shrugged his shoulders at her and continued to stare around at the chaotic room he could see through a large open window that James and Albus were outside playing with the other children in the family, "Why don't you go out and join the others dear, we'll call you in when dinner is ready." Ginny pushed him in the direction of the door and Vernon headed out of it, he looked around and saw the crowd of children chasing each other around the garden, they were all smiling and laughing and he felt a little bit jealous of them, they looked so close and happy but he had no intention of joining them, he wasn't one of them, he wasn't a Weasley or Potter and he certainly wasn't a wizard.

Instead he headed in the direction of the stream at the bottom of the garden there was a small bench which he sat on and then stared sullenly at the water, every few minutes he glanced back at the field where all the other children were playing and felt a strange pang in his stomach. He hated them, he hated them all because they were so gleeful and playful all the time always having fun with each other, even when they argued they looked like they were enjoying themselves and they would be friends again within minutes. Vernon couldn't understand how they forgave each other so quickly for things, or even at all, when one of his friends from home did anything he didn't like then he told them so and they listened to his argument or took his punch, he smirked as he remembered that they wouldn't do it again in a hurry.

The smirk returned to a frown as he thought about the previous night in the kitchen when he had joined in the baking, he felt something warm stir again inside of him, he had felt it when he had first joined in with the activity, it was something unfamiliar to him and for a while he had enjoyed it until he had remembered where he was and who he was with. When that Potter boy had told him to catch his sister he had come back to his senses and realised that he was doing something with them, with the freaks. He had run from the room to recover and remind himself that he was not one of them and that he didn't want to be one of them, he had vowed to get through the next six or seven years he would have to stay with them and then leave the freaks behind. However he had laid awake most of the night thinking back over the baking and kept getting the strange unfamiliar feeling again, he wanted to know what it was but he wasn't going to ask any of them, he would get through the rest of this ridiculous weird party and then get back to his room in their house where he could work on his strategy to get that stupid boy at school who had told on him, he grinned maliciously to himself as he thought back on some of the things he had done in the past, he would make sure the boy didn't tell on him again.

"Why are you down here?" said a soft voice which made him jump, Vernon turned to see Lily staring at him strangely. There was something about this one that gave him that unfamiliar feeling again but he shrugged it off and glared at her.

"I didn't want to be with you fr..." he paused and looked away.

"You're not allowed to call us that," she replied.

"So? I don't care. Are you going to run off and tell your stupid Dad that I did?"

"No," she whispered, "And my Dad is not stupid." Vernon shrugged his shoulders and turned away from the girl, what was it about her that made him feel warm again? "Why aren't you going to tell your Dad? I thought that's what you all did?"

"It will just make him mad, and I'm fed up of him being mad at you."

Vernon looked at her curiously, "Why would you care if he was mad at me?"

"Because you're my brother and I don't like it when Dad gets angry at my brothers."

"I," he interrupted raising his voice, "am not your brother."

"I know you're not my real brother," she continued, "but now you live with us you are like my brother and I don't want Dad to be angry at you all the time."

"Well you don't need to bother, I don't care who is mad at me, I don't want to be your brother and as soon as I'm old enough I'm going and you won't see me again." Lily looked at him with a slightly hurt expression and Vernon felt a pang of guilt but he shook it off quickly and glared at her sternly.

The little girl sighed deeply and looked towards the house where her mother was calling them all to dinner, Vernon followed her gaze and set his eyes upon Ginny who was beckoning them with her hand, that warm feeling came again and his stern face softened, Lily smiled when she noticed this but didn't say anything else to him as she jumped off the bench and set off up to the Burrow, "You'd better hurry up," she called over her shoulder, "Or Uncle Ron will eat everything!" The voice brought Vernon out of his reverie and the grumpy look which usually adorned his face returned, he stood up and trudged slowly backup to the house, so what if the ginger haired weirdo ate all the food? He didn't want to be there at all so why would he want to eat the meal?

Vernon felt totally out of place at the bustling kitchen table of the Burrow, he sat quietly between Harry and Ginny watching the huge family laughing and joking with each other, sharing tales from their day and telling stories about George. They paused and became quiet at one point as they drank a toast to someone called Fred who had been another Weasley who had died in a war some years earlier but Vernon wasn't really interested, he didn't care about any of these people and just hoped the whole thing would end soon. "Would you like some cake Vernon?" asked Ginny as it was passed around the enormous wooden table, he looked at her and shook his head, "You can have some Vernon, you ate all your dinner," she added smiling at him, he looked up at her and felt warm again so he smiled back at her but then he remembered where he was and shook his head, "Okay," she said and passed the cake on. Vernon went back to watching quietly, secretly hating all the weird people sitting at the table enjoying themselves and wishing that he could get back to his room where he could be alone again.

Harry watched him and sighed, the first time he had been to the Burrow he had been just a few years older than Vernon was now and he had been in absolute awe of the place, for the first time in his life that he could remember he had felt at home even though he had known it was not his own. Molly had fussed over him and tried to feed him up and she had never stopped in all the time that had passed since, she had been more like a mother to him than anyone he had ever known. This family had shown him what family life really should be like and he had been determined to make sure that his own family would become part of it and he loved that fact that he had married into the family and made it possible. He could imagine what Vernon's childhood had been like so far and he knew it would be completely different to this one in front of him now, though it wouldn't have been as miserable for Vernon living with the Dursleys as it had been for him, it would have been much quieter and more formal than the chaos of the Burrow during a dinner party.

Despite his size the chubby young boy looked small and lost in this crowd of Weasleys sitting between him and Ginny instead of with the other children who were engrossed in Teddy Lupin's metamorphs at the kitchen table, he noticed that Vernon was watching the show intently though as if part of him wanted to be in the crowd. When Vernon caught Harry's eye and realised he was being watched his expression turned to one of scorn and he knew that the boy was thinking that Teddy was a freak like he thought they all were. It still angered Harry that he called him and his family freaks and weirdoes but he also knew that he could expect little else from a child who had been brought up as a Dursley and he was beginning to pity the child more and more as the days went by. Harry also felt guilty that he had been spending so much time away from the family since Vernon had come along and wished he did not have to leave everything to Ginny.

"Cake darling?" she asked at that very moment and Harry looked up accepting gratefully the large piece of Molly Weasley's homemade birthday cake from the beautiful woman who he still thought he didn't deserve. The pang of guilt hit him again as he thought about how often he had left her to cope recently with the difficult child who had been foisted upon them and who was nothing really to do with her at all. A squeal from Lily distracted his chain of thoughts and he looked across the table to see her being chased around the room by Teddy who was sporting a pig's snout and making grunting noises as he followed her, he laughed heartily at the game and sat back in his seat to watch everything else that was going on in the room hoping that one day Vernon would make the effort to fit in and find the wonderful family he had become part of.

It was late before they left the party, Harry had to carry Lily home as she was already asleep, James and Albus flooed by themselves and ran around the kitchen on a sugar rush as Ginny flooed home with Vernon at her side, when they stepped out of the fireplace he held onto her hand for a few seconds before leaving the room quietly and heading up to bed leaving Ginny to usher the over tired and hyperactive boys up after him.

He laid on his bed staring at the ceiling and thinking about the night before once more, what was that feeling he kept getting when he thought about it? The same feeling he got whenever Lily came to talk to him or when he was near Ginny, he had held onto her hand a little longer than he should have downstairs but he had liked the touch of another person that wasn't an excruciatingly uncomfortable hug from Aunt Marge or a cuff on the ear and a ruffle on the head from his Granddad. Did he 

want to be part of this family? He thought to himself, "No," he shouted out loud as if he needed to affirm it, no he didn't, he wanted nothing to do with these freaks, with the cousin who had embarrassed and disappointed his grandparents for years and made them move away from their home and friends, why would he want to be part of them? And he definitely didn't want to be part of the rest of the strange family, with the boy who changed his face all the time and all those bizarre Weasley's. No he was just feeling these things because he was confused and upset about losing his own normal family and having to leave all his friends and his home behind to be with these freaks, he would never wish to be one of them, never.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Life for the Potter family settled into a routine over the following few months, Vernon became more and more independent, still refusing to join in with family activities and only speaking if they spoke to him first, the children tried a few more times to engage him in play and conversation and although they never turned into arguments anymore Vernon would still refuse and keep himself to himself. They heard nothing more from his school and assumed he must have settled in there too, he never talked about any friends but then he never talked to them about much anyway, Ginny sometimes caught him looking at her and the children as she had done the night he had helped them with the baking but he would look away sullenly as soon as he realised she was watching him and she never tried to push him into doing things anymore.

For Ginny things returned to normal apart from the fact that Harry was still away from home quite often working on the shop in Hogsmeade with Ron, he regularly returned late at night when everyone was in bed and he looked guiltily at Ginny when he came to their room as she was always sat up waiting for him with a smile on her face and a tale to tell him about the children. He slept soundly after a day with Ron not being used to working such long hours anymore, but Ginny noticed that he looked happy to be involved in a project again and realised how much he must have missed working as an auror no matter how much he protested and said that he didn't.

One night he came home early and made Ginny jump as he crept quietly out of the kitchen fireplace and sneaked up behind her at the kitchen sink, wrapping his arms around her he kissed her neck and made her giggle, when she turned to face him he had an enormous smile on his face, "Good day at the office dear?" she asked teasingly.

"A very productive day actually," he replied but didn't expand on why, "Let's go out tonight to the Leaky Cauldron, just me and you, do you think your Mum will come and look after the kids?"

"I'll ask her," she replied in a shocked tone, it wasn't often that they spent time alone together anymore, especially doing something out of the house, unless it was a special occasion.

They had a romantic evening like they used to have when they first started going out, Harry apparated them into Diagon Alley with his arms wrapped tightly around her and then led her down the alley to the Leaky Cauldron where Tom the barman served them at a quiet, cosy table in the corner of the bar. They chatted about insignificant things and reminisced about their early days when they were dating and before they knew it the time had whizzed by, "This was a good idea," Harry said, "It's nice to spend some time alone, just the two of us, we should do it more often. I'm sorry I'm not around a lot at home anymore, I'm hoping this project won't take much longer and then we can get back to life as it should be."

"It's done you good honey," she replied, "You look like you're happy again."

"What do you mean, again?" he asked taking her hand in his across the table, "When have I been unhappy?"

"Just lately, before you took on the project with Ron, like you needed to get out of the house and back into something," she looked at her hand instead of into his eyes as she said it.

"Darling," he answered moving around the table they were sat at to be closer to her, "I have never been unhappy at home with you and the children, I can't believe you ever thought that. Yes I have enjoyed this project and it's been good working with Ron again but truth be told it's hard work working!" he chuckled lifting her head with his finger and looking deep into her eyes. "I'm looking forward to it all being over so I can get back to teaching my children magic and being at home all day with you, I can't believe you would ever think I was unhappy being there and not out at work, don't ever think that again ok?" he asked kissing the hand he had taken in his and smiling at her. She nodded back at him.

"Maybe I should bring the children up to admire your handy work one day," she suggested.

"What?" Harry replied quickly and with an inflection in his tone, "why?" he continued trying to laugh off the way he had responded to her. Ginny looked at him curiously wondering why he would ask such a silly question, "To see all your hard work, it must look amazing given all the time you've put into it."

"What...? Well...er...well I suppose it does...yes...but...but Ron doesn't want anyone to see it until it's completely finished, even...even... Her...Hermione hasn't been allowed any where near it, could you imagine what he'd say if you turned up with the children? And imagine what she'd say if she knew you'd seen it before her? She'd probably kill Ron and me too for letting you in!" he laughed uncomfortably.

"Oh, right," Ginny said and sat back in her seat, "Well I suppose if Hermione hasn't been then I'd better wait too. Shall we get going Sweetheart? It's almost midnight and Mum'll be wanting to get home, plus I suppose you're up and off early tomorrow?"

"No I'm not in tomorrow, we go t so much done today that we're having a couple of days off! I might pop into the Ministry though and say hello to Abery, see how he's coping with the job now he's been in there a few months!"

Harry stood up and offered his hand to Ginny, she took it and stood by his side as they made their way to the fireplace, "Harry?" said a sweet voice behind them, they both swivelled their heads round simultaneously and looked at a tall young girl dressed in tight fitting robes which accentuated every curve she possessed. She looked familiar to Ginny but she couldn't quite place her, "Jenny," said Harry nervously, "How nice to see you." Ginny looked curiously at her husband who seemed to know the girl in front of them, she had thick, long, dark hair which fell around her creamy face in soft feathers, her piercing blue eyes stared at them both as she extended a thin wrist towards Harry, he took her hand and shook it softly.

"Good results we've had recently huh?" she asked still looking directly at Harry.

"What? H...have you? I...I don't know, I haven't been in to see Abery for a while," Harry stuttered in response, "By the way this is my wife, Ginny, I don't think you've met before have you?"

"No," she said finally looking at her and offering the same hand out, "I'm Jenny Wiler," she continued.

"Jenny works at the Ministry with Abery," Harry explained quickly.

"Oh yes, I have seen you before," Ginny remembered, "At the ball for his new job, you were with Dean Thomas weren't you? How is he? I don't think I've seen him since that night."

"Oh Dean and I don't see each other anymore," she answered casually, "we dated for a while but he never seemed to be truly into it, like he was holding out for someone else I don't know, we finished just after the ball actually. I thought Harry would have told you, you were at school together weren't you? And he was there when your son was born he told me."

"Yes he was," she replied looking strangely at her husband again, why had he not told her if he knew about Dean and Jenny?

"Well we were just about to leave Jenny," Harry interrupted, "Please excuse us, I might see you in the office tomorrow, I was going to pop in to see Abery sometime."

"Oh, well goodnight then," she trilled as Harry escorted Ginny quickly towards the fireplace, "Goodnight," he called back over his shoulder.

Seconds later they were standing in the kitchen of their home where Molly was dozing in the chair by the fire and Kreacher was sat darning children's socks by candle light. "Everything been okay Mum?" Ginny asked quietly, "Kreacher," she continued when Molly had nodded her head in response, "You can leave those, you shouldn't be up so late, get yourself to bed and finish them tomorrow."

"I tried to tell him," said Molly, "but you know what he's like, he'll only take instructions from you lot, that's why I came and sat down here to keep him company, did you have a good night?" she asked smiling up at her one and only daughter and the wonderful man she had married who was as much a son to her as the six of her own she had had.

"Mmm," Ginny replied, "Do you fancy a cup of tea or do you want to get back?"

"I can manage a quick cup and a chat love before I go," she smiled.

"Well if you don't mind I'll leave you ladies too it, I'm exhausted now, keeping me out past midnight Mrs Potter," he scolded softly, "If I didn't love you so much," he chuckled putting an arm around her waist and kissing her forehead, "Goodnight Sweetheart, I'll check in on the kids on my way up." Ginny smiled in response.

"Goodnight Molly," he called as he reached the kitchen door.

"Goodnight Harry," she replied rising from her seat to help Ginny make the tea.

It was only twenty minutes later when Molly left and Ginny took herself up to bed but Harry was already snoring softly so she climbed in beside him and turned to curl her body around his back, she lay awake for a while thinking over the short conversation they had had with Jenny. Harry had seemed so nervous around her and she wondered why? Then she realised it was probably because he had not told her that she and Dean had split up, though Harry was grateful for him being there for Ginny when James was born and he fully understood why he would try to make a move on her when he thought she had been a widow for several months , he still didn't mention his name without a glimmer of jealousy tingeing his eyes a darker shade of green. It was a shame for Dean though that they had broken up, she was a pretty girl, in fact more than pretty really she thought to herself, she was stunning. Ginny put her to be in her early twenties, she had the body of a fit young woman who looked after herself and her glossy hair had put Ginny's red bushy mess to shame, pushing her thought to the back of her mind she pulled herself closer to Harry who unconsciously put his hand over the arm that she moved across his chest to keep herself up against him while she slept.

In the morning Harry had gone when she awoke, after a quick shower she pulled on some everyday robes and set off down the stairs to find everyone. Albus and James were playing exploding snap in the playroom where Kreacher was sat finishing the sock she had told him to put away the previous night. She found Harry and Lily in the kitchen playing gobstones while Vernon ate his breakfast quietly watching the interaction between father and daughter with a peculiar look on his face, when he saw her enter he looked at her for a few seconds and Ginny thought he was almost going to smile but then he returned to gazing at his bowl of cereal and she sighed before getting a bowl herself and sitting down next to him.

"Have you got everything you need for school Vernon?" she asked making Harry jump, he had not heard her come into the room at all as he had been so engrossed in the game with Lily. Vernon nodded his head as he drained the bowl in front of him, as he did every morning the sullen young man washed the bowl out in the sink before picking up his bag from beside the kitchen door and heading out of the front door to school without a goodbye to anyone else in the room. Ginny sighed, he was a young boy who looked sad all the time and though she tried and tried she still couldn't get him to open up to her, she longed to put her arms around him and give him a hug and sometimes she could see in his eyes that he wanted some kind of comfort but the glimmer would disappear as quickly as it had appeared there and she knew that he would lash out at her if she tried to give him any kind of human contact.

"What time are you off to the Ministry?" she asked Harry when the front door had closed behind Vernon.

"This afternoon I think," he replied, "Oh you got me," he added as Lily knocked one of his gobstones out of the scoring ring.

"Are you beating Daddy?" Ginny asked as she joined them in front of the fire still eating her breakfast.

"She is indeed," Harry answered for her, "I think she could be a champion at this game, maybe she'll be heading up the gobstones club when she gets to Hogwarts, that is if she hasn't fallen in love with Quidditch by then! Oh no" he squealed as another of his stones was knocked out and Lily was declared the winner. Ginny chuckled at them both and cleared away her things.

The next few days passed as they always did except that Harry was around for most of them which made a nice change after the last few months, he had visited Abery for a few hours on his first day off but had spent the rest of the time playing with the children and teaching the boys about magic. Vernon had stayed out of the way most of the time but Harry did catch him again on the stairs outside the library one morning when Harry was teaching James and Albus about simple useful potions, he tried to get him to come inside and join them but the boy had shaken his head at him and run back up the stairs to his bedroom. It was later the same day when Vernon entered the kitchen to find Harry sitting alone reading the Daily Prophet, Ginny was putting the others to bed and Vernon had sneaked down the stairs to see Harry alone.

"What are you dong out of bed?" Harry asked softly when the movement of his dressing gown had caught his eye.

"Can...can I ask you something?" Vernon had returned. Looking shocked that the boy had ventured to talk to him without being spoken to first, Harry folded up the newspaper and gestured to the chair opposite him. Vernon did not sit down but approached the fireplace cautiously, Harry gave the lad his full attention wondering curiously what he wanted to ask. "When you...when you lived with my Grandparents...they were...they were mean to you weren't they?" Harry nodded his response and Vernon continued. "They made you live in a cupboard and you had to wear my Dad's old clothes, and...and my Dad was mean to you too wasn't he?" Again Harry nodded but did not interrupt the child's flow. "But...but he told me...my Dad I mean...he told me that you had saved him from something, from a weird creature or something..." he stopped and looked up at Harry enquiringly before adding, "Why?"

"Why did I save him?" Vernon nodded, "Because I didn't want him to be hurt or killed by it." The child stood there struggling to absorb this answer therefore it was few moments before he spoke again.

"And when I came here to live with you, why did...why didn't you make me live in a cupboard and not have any toys like you had to?" Harry looked curiously at Vernon trying to understand why he would think they would treat him like that.

"Because you are a child and children should not be treated like that," he answered simply.

"But you were, and I'm...well I'm a Dursley."

"That doesn't mean I am going to treat you like they treated me Vernon, You may be a Dursley and you may be Dudley's child but that does not mean I have to treat you like a leper or something. As far as we are concerned you are a member of our family and you will be treated like the rest of my children, when you misbehave you will be punished but otherwise you will have your own room and your own toys and everything else that a child should have," he didn't want add that that included love and human contact, this conversation had been a major breakthrough and he didn't want to push anything yet, maybe Vernon was starting to come around a little bit, but he wasn't going to hold his breath just yet.

"They didn't take you to places either did they?" he asked and Harry shook his head. Vernon stood there for a few more minutes before deciding he had heard enough, without another word he turned and headed for the kitchen door where Ginny was now stood watching them, as he passed he looked up at her for a few seconds but his facial expression was one of surprise which made a change from his usual sullen or curious ones, she smiled back at him but he went past her without a word and climbed the stairs to bed, "Goodnight Vernon," she called after him but he did not answer. She went over to the fireplace and looked at Harry who was wearing a bemused expression which matched her own, "How much did you hear?" he asked.

"All of it, I came down behind him, I was about to send him up to bed when I heard him speak to you," she sat in the chair opposite him.

"Maybe he's starting to settle at last, he seems to know a lot about my life at the Dursley's which surprises me really as they used to pretend I didn't exist, I still can't quite believe that he knew we were wizards."

"It pains me to think that he would think he would be treated like the Dursley's treated you," Ginny said, "I can't begin to imagine what that was like for you," she looked at him sadly but he smiled in response .

"Don't worry, I met this family who made up for it ten times over," he chuckled making her smile again. "Who knows maybe things will change now, but I won't count on it just yet."

"At least it's a start, he's obviously thinking about these things, maybe he'll realise that he wants to be part of our family."

"I hope so," Harry added, "I never thought I'd hear myself say it of a Dursley but I hope he does, he's just a child and he needs to be loved like I was by your family, I want to give him that seeing as it was obviously important to Dudley, I think I must have mellowed in my old age," he chuckled as Ginny got up and went to sit on his knee.

"I long to give him some contact," she went on as her arms curled around his neck, "I could never imagine being a child and not having that contact, in fact I couldn't imagine not having it with our children either. Sometimes I catch him looking at me and I think I see a small glimmer in his eyes that wants some kind of touch but it is gone almost instantaneously and I don't want to push it, I sometimes see it when he looks at Lily too but I think she's too scared to try and hug him in case he retaliates in some way," they both sighed as Ginny's head came to rest on his shoulder and Harry's arms reached around her.

Neither of them had heard Vernon sneak back down the stairs and listen to their conversation through the crack in the kitchen door, when all had gone quiet he slowly tiptoed back up them to his room where he lay awake for a while thinking about what had been said, he couldn't understand why his father's cousin would try to be nice to him when his Dad and his Grandparents had treated him like they had, he had been confused a lot for the last few days as he thought back over the conversations he had had with his Grandparents about the boy who had been the bane of their lives for sixteen years but then he had come to realise that if Harry hadn't cared about his Dad and left him to the monster, then he wouldn't even have been born.

He thought back on what Ginny had said about wanting to hug him, is that what he wanted when he looked at her? Is that why he lingered a little when she held his hand, his Grandmother had always given him hugs but they had been annoying crushing ones like Aunt Marge's which he had stood only to get money from them, but he had never been hugged by his mother, not that he could remember anyway. That warm feeling he got from Lily and Ginny was it because he wanted to be hugged properly by a mother or a sister? Suddenly his usual thoughts came back to him, what was he doing thinking like this? Wasn't this the family of freaks who could do magic? Witches and wizards weren't normal, they should be hidden away and not spoken about, shouldn't they? That's what his Grandmother had always said, but then he had seen them doing magic, he had watched Ginny help Lily to stir the biscuit mix with a flick of her wand, he had travelled from one place to another in an instant through the fireplace and some of the tricks and games that they all played with were quite cool really, especially the chess game where the pieces knocked each other down. He had been brought up to think that magic was wrong and freakish but hadn't his Dad wanted him to be brought here if anything happened to him? He obviously didn't think they were freaks so why did his Grandparents? The thoughts buzzed around his mind as he drifted in and out of sleep, he dreamt of his Grandparents telling him that he should run away to Aunt Marge, then he saw his Dad telling him that Harry would look after him, he woke the next morning feeling more confused than he had the night before and had to drag himself out of bed for school before anyone came to find him.


	13. Chapter 13

**Thanks again to my reviewers, I didn't realise that I had disabled anonymous reviews so I have enabled it if anyone else wants to add a review without the hassle of logging in or setting up account etc... Do love to hear what people are thinking! Hope this chapter gives a bit of mystery for you to think about, it's quite a long one this time so please read and review - even anonymously!!**

Chapter 13

Ginny kissed her husband goodbye and watched him whirl out of sight in flash of green flames from the kitchen fireplace, moments later the green flames reappeared and out stepped Rose and Hugo Weasley followed by Hermione who dusted herself down before greeting Ginny with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"James, Albus and Lily are up in the playground with Kreacher if you want to find them you two," Ginny said to the children and they whisked themselves out of the kitchen as fast as a bolt of lightening, Hermione and Ginny listened to their footsteps pounding on the stairs as the latter made a pot of tea for them both. A few minutes later they settled into two chairs by the fire for a cosy chat, something they were both feeling the need for.

They sat in their positions for an hour before screaming upstairs signalled an outburst from the children, Kreacher appeared in the doorway with James in one hand and Rose in the other, "Arguing over chess again Mrs Potter," he said.

"James, I hope you weren't teasing Rose about girls not playing chess," the boy looked sheepishly at the floor and Rose smiled triumphantly at him, Hermione noticed this and added, "I bet Rose was bossing him about in the first place though," she looked sternly at her daughter and the same sheepish look appeared on her face.

"I think you had better put the game away if it is going to cause so much fuss you two, if you can't play together without arguing then the two of you will have to come and sit down here with us you know," they both looked horrified at the thought and immediately apologised to each other, the two women laughed at them and Ginny waved them away with Kreacher.

"They are just like you and Ron used to be," the younger woman chuckled.

"What?" Hermione screeched.

"Oh come on Hermione, you used to fight like cat and dog all the time, bickering over stupid things day in and day out, how you ever managed to get together is still beyond me, mind you, you still bicker over stupid things like that now." Hermione looked at her friend with a mock hurt look on her face but Ginny knew that deep down she completely agreed with her. Changing the subject quickly she continued with, "It sounds like the new shop is coming along well, I think Harry has really enjoyed getting his teeth into something again but I still miss him at home. It was nice for him to be here over the last few days."

"Yeah, I'm sure it'll be ready soon, it is looking good though now, a lot better than when it was Zonkos back when we were at Hogwarts," Ginny looked at Hermione with a curious expression before asking slowly, "You've been up to see it then?"

"Yes," she replied, "A few times, Ron wanted my input on a few things he said I had an eye for layout!" she laughed heartily but Ginny didn't join in.

"Oh...I...I didn't...didn't know that you'd..." she stood up and walked to the sink with a confused look on her face.

"Are you okay Gin?" Hermione asked coming up to join her.

"What? Oh yes...I'm fine I just got something caught in my throat," she coughed into her hand and put a smile back on her face, "Shall we go and make sure they are not causing anymore trouble up there?" she continued gesturing to the doorway, Hermione looked at her inquiringly but Ginny set off for the stairs before she could continue the conversation.

Later that morning when Hermione and the children had left Ginny sat down in the living room by herself to think, why would Harry tell her that Hermione couldn't see the shop when she obviously had? He had never lied to her before, as far as she knew she supposed, but why lie about this? Why did he not want her to see the shop? She thought back to the conversation from the other night when she had first mentioned visiting him up there with the children he had seemed edgy when he answered as if he had had to think about his answer first. Was he trying to hide something from her?

She sat for a couple of hours going over and over in her head the conversation in the Leaky Cauldron but Ginny could not come up with a reason why Harry would lie to her until she remembered the attractive young woman they had met prior to leaving the bar. Harry had been on edge again when they were talking to her, like he wanted to leave, why would he not want to talk to her if she knew him? Then she remembered that he hadn't told her that she and Dean had split up a while ago, if Harry had known then he obviously knew this woman better than she thought he did, so why had he never mentioned knowing her before? She had barely taken her eyes off him either throughout their short interaction in the bar, even when she had turned to meet Ginny her gaze kept wandering back to Harry's face, was there something going on here that she should be worried about? No, Ginny thought shaking her head to get rid of the idea, Harry would never do anything like that to her, he loved her too much and they had been through so much, they had the children and a happy life together, he just didn't want her to see the shop because...because...?

Her thoughts were interrupted by Harry's voice calling up the stairs, "Anyone at home?" She pushed them aside as she heard the children thumping down the stairs to greet him and she followed suit giving him a quick peck on the cheek and heading into the kitchen to start cooking.

Later that night when all the children were tucked up in bed she decided to talk to Harry about the shop again, "Did you get a lot done today then darling?"

"It's been a bit slow actually today," he replied folding up the Daily Prophet which he had been scan reading at the table, "Not really got anywhere."

"That's a shame," she replied, "How much longer do you think it will be?"

"I'm not sure darling, I'm sorry it's taking a while but you know Ron and George ,when it comes to the shop it has to be done right!"

"Hmm, I just want to get in and see all your hard work, that's all. I know you've enjoyed doing it and I suppose I want to see the fruits of your labour."

"Don't worry honey, you'll get to see it before it opens," he said leaning across the table and taking her hand in his, he stroked it gently.

"After Hermione though?" she asked.

"What? Oh...oh yes, after Hermione, Ron definitely wants her to see it first." Harry casually flipped the front page of the Daily Prophet and started scanning the articles again so he didn't see the disheartened look that crossed Ginny's face, he was hiding something from her now she knew it.

"I'm going up to bed," she said holding her voice so it wouldn't break, "I'll see you later," she ran from the room before the sobs escaped her body after entering her room she laid down on the bed where the thoughts she had had earlier began to whirl through her mind again. What was he hiding from her and why? Could he really be doing something she wouldn't like? Or was he using the shop as a cover up for seeing someone else?

When Harry entered the room half an hour later she pretended to be asleep with her back to his side of the bed, climbing in beside her he kissed her shoulder before settling down scooped around her with an arm over her waist, she wanted to shrug him off but the touch reminded her that he did love her and that made her stop thinking that he was hiding something terrible. She spent the next hour making excuses for why he might be hiding something from her when it came to the shop and decided that she didn't want to confront him about it, she would take the children to the Burrow in the morning and apparate up to Hogsmeade where she would find Harry working hard with Ron, she wouldn't let him see her but she would put her mind at rest until he decided to tell her what was going on. Comforted by her resolve she managed to sleep though she had fitful dreams about Harry being with another woman followed by Harry working in the shop followed by Harry trying to run away from her as she chased him through the streets of Hogsmeade begging him to return.

As the early dawn sunshine filtered through the blinds at their bedroom window Harry began to stir and pulled his wife closer to him, he slipped a hand over one of her breasts and began to caress it softly focusing in on the nipple after a few minutes. Ginny realised she was feeling aroused as she slowly began to wake up, she could feel Harry's touch and she responded to it by moaning softly and moving herself back to him, they made love slowly and gently in the same position barely making a noise at all until they were both satisfied and Harry kissed her shoulders tenderly as she breathed in and out trying to regulate her heartbeat again. He left her with a kiss on the cheek and she turned over to see him dressing quickly in dirty work robes his back to her as he dragged a comb pointlessly through his hair which fell back into the same position it always did, without looking at her again he left the room and a few minutes later Ginny heard the front door close gently. It was at that moment that she realised he hadn't looked at her once, they had made love without speaking, barely even making a sound and he had touched and kissed her but he had not spoken her name or even looked into her eyes at all, that sudden feeling of dread she had felt intermittently the previous day in the pit of her stomach returned and she stared up at the ceiling willing her mind to stop thinking the one thing she knew she could never handle. I need to go to the shop she thought to herself and that determination to glimpse Harry at work with Ron which would set her mind at ease made her get out of bed and organise the children so she could get it done quickly and return to her usual mood and daily routine.

An hour later Vernon had set off for school, she had waved him off at the door as she did every morning now longing to get a reaction from him, and was surprised when he turned at the end of the street and looked back at where the house should have been for a few seconds. It was a first and although he didn't wave she hoped that it was another sign that he was changing a little, she also decided that maybe it was a sign that the day would go well and her other vice would be concluded soon too. After flooing the children to stay with her mother Ginny excused herself saying that she wanted to do some shopping by herself and then apparated from the garden of the Burrow to the main street of Hogsmeade.

Ginny looked down at her second favourite place in the world, Hogwarts, standing down the hill from the village. She thought back on her days of school when she had first met Harry, when they had first started dating and then that day after Dumbledore's funeral when he had told her that no matter how much he loved her he couldn't be with her anymore. She had understood his valour and nobility but it had still broken her heart, the same heart which had broken again when he returned from the battle with Voldemort and didn't come to her. She remembered with a smile the day of Luna and Neville's wedding when Harry had found her on the loveseat and kissed her so longingly and forcefully, every kiss with Harry had been the same to her since that day and she couldn't bare the thought that he might be... She couldn't even think it shaking her head Ginny set off in the direction of Zonkos determined to put her raging mind at rest once and for all.

As she approached the place where Zonkos was Ginny noticed a lot of activity, the shop window looked new and clean, a sign above the door and window read Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, Hogsmeade Division in curled writing and an animated picture of an exploding firework reached up along the door bursting with colour over the sign and showering the lettering with sparks. She walked towards the door and peered through the window where she could see row upon row of empty shelves in all different colours, it looked amazing and she was overawed at the amount of work her husband and brother must have put into it. A large marble counter stood at the far end of the huge room and beyond it she could see a figure working in the storeroom behind the shop, he didn't look familiar to her but she realised Harry and Ron had probably taken on some other help as well. Trying the door she found it was open and as she pushed it a bell tinkled loudly over her head and then made a strange trumping sound which mage her giggle. Upon hearing the sound the figure in the storeroom turned to face her, he was burly, blonde haired man dressed in work robes which were covered in paint, he also had a paintbrush in his hand which he put 

down before stepping through the door and speaking to her, "Sorry Missus," he began, "The shop ain't open for a few weeks yet."

"Oh, yes sorry I know that I'm Mrs Potter, Harry's wife and Ron's sister, are either of them around?"

"Harry and Ron?" he asked inquisitively looking a little confused, "Oh you mean Mr Weasley who owns the shop, no he's not here, he only pops in every couple of weeks to check how it's going, seems quite pleased with it I think, not that I want to brag but it might get me noticed down in Diagon Alley if he likes the refit. Between you and me I think there's a fair few shops down there in desperate need of a refit," he laughed at Ginny but her strange expression stopped him.

"So Mr Weasley hasn't been working on the refit then?" she asked.

"No, Missus, he hired me and my team a few months ago to do the whole thing, like I said he pops in every couple of weeks, sometimes with a dark haired man too and once or twice with his wife but he hasn't been working on the job," he chuckled again as if he could hardly imagine someone like Ron refitting a shop but Ginny barely noticed her mind had gone back into overdrive, if Harry and Ron had not been here working on the shop then where had they been? Were they both in on something or was it just Harry using it as a cover up for something else? The tall perfect figure of Jenny Wiler came back into her mind as she remembered the look she had given her husband again, a look of knowing something that she didn't. "You alright?" asked a voice which brought her back into focus, the workman was looking at her curiously.

"What? Oh yes I...I'm...right...er thank...thank you ...I thought that he had been helping, I must have got it wrong, I'll go down to Diagon Alley and find them there, thank you for your time and the shop looks...looks really good."

She was unaware of how she got home, her mind was whirring over and over the same thoughts she had had the day before, why was Harry and her brother lying to her, and in that case why was Hermione? What was going on that she didn't know about? She had never quite been able to penetrate the golden trio even after marrying Harry, they had always had their special little bond, but surely if Harry was doing something that would hurt her then Ron would tell her, she was his sister, didn't they have a special bond too? She sat on the kitchen floor playing it over and over again until she thought she had gone mad, she needed to speak to Harry and knew she would have to confront him as soon as he came home whatever the outcome might be.

Ginny pulled herself together long enough to collect the children from her mother and make a simple meal for them all she was waiting on tenterhooks for Harry to come home and could have screamed aloud when an owl arrived saying he would not be home until the next day as he and Ron had decided to work into the night to get something finished on the shop and he would crash out in the upstairs rooms over the shop, tears filled her eyes as she tried desperately not to imagine what he was really doing and she knew that she would have to speak to someone before the night was over. So after feeding the children a meal of pumpkin pasties and chips she called for Luna and asked her if she would watch over them while she went to see Hermione. Someone had to tell her the truth about what was going on.

Hermione was clearing away the dishes after feeding the children when she heard the familiar whoosh in the fireplace which signalled someone arriving by floo, knowing that it wouldn't be Ron, as he had owled her to say he would be back the next day, she whirled around to see who was visiting her and smiled when the figure of Ginny Potter stepped out into her kitchen. The smile vanished from her face soon after when she noticed the expression on Ginny's. It was one she had seen before on many of the Weasleys, one that said I've got something on my mind and I'm not going to give up until it is all out, Ginny and Molly were the real masters of this look and the young woman knew that this was not a social call.

"Gin, what's the matter?" she asked compassionately gesturing towards a chair at the table but Ginny did not sit down.

"I want to know what's going on Hermione." She demanded, hands on her hips in a true Molly Weasley stance.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't give me that Hermione, I know Harry is lying to me about something and I know you three are as thick as thieves, he wouldn't do anything without telling you and I want to know what is going on. Is he..." her voice cracked but she quickly recovered herself and continued, "Is he seeing someone else?"

"Harry?" Hermione squealed, "No he'd never...he wouldn't...he...he loves you too much Gin, why would you think that?"

"Because he's lying about where he is all day and sometimes overnight, I know he hasn't been working on the shop and neither has Ron," Hermione tried to put a shocked look on her face but she had never been that good at hiding her knowledge. "Don't try and be all innocent Hermione, like I said, the golden trio never do anything without telling each other, you know they haven't been working on the shop and you two have been covering up for him. Where's Ron?" Hermione felt as if she was under a spotlight and she was unable to find any words to answer her question. "Is he here? Ron," she called out.

"No Gin, he's not here, but he is with Harry, I promise you. Oh I knew this would happen, I told him to tell you the truth, that you'd find out but he wouldn't listen to me, he wanted to keep it quiet and use the shop as a cover up," Ginny visibly deflated, somewhere in the back of her mind she had been hoping that she had got it all wrong and that Hermione would give her a suitable explanation, but she had just confirmed her suspicions, well most of them. "Ginny, please sit down," Hermione took her hand and guided her into a chair at the table before sitting down herself in the one opposite her friend.

"Harry told me that Ron didn't want anyone to see the shop until it was finished, even you but the other day you said you had been to see it and I started to wonder why he was lying to me, so I asked him again in case he had got it wrong and Ron had 

finally let you visit but he still said you hadn't been, and then...then I remembered the other day in the Leaky Cauldron we saw that woman who Dean went out with and she couldn't take her eyes off Harry, and he was so shifty and uncomfortable around her and I started to think that he and she..."

"Ginny," her concerned friend interrupted, "You have to know that Harry would never ever do that to you."

"That's what I thought, but it all seems to fit and when I visited the shop today, then I knew he was lying to me, Hermione what is going on?"

The elder of the two women sighed before replying, "I can't tell you," Ginny's head shot up and she stared her sister in law straight in the eye, "What do you mean you can't tell me?" the anger was returning to her voice.

"I promised Harry that I wouldn't say anything and I can't..." she drifted off and looked away from Ginny.

"Break the trio's code," the upset girl spat at her friend, "You know Hermione, I know you have that special bond that no one else can penetrate, not even me, Harry's wife, and I've always respected that there were things between you all that I would never know about or be part of, but when it came to Harry doing something like this, lying to me about...whatever it is, I always thought you would be able to stand by me."

Hermione looked away guiltily, "Ginny, please believe me, Harry is not doing anything with the woman from the auror office."

"I thought I would believe you Hermione, whatever you said to me, but you're helping him hide something from me and no matter how much you approve or disapprove of his lying, you will still lie for him if he needs you to, thanks for nothing." Ginny jumped up from her seat and ran into the fireplace before Hermione could say another word, she twisted away in a whirl of green flames but Hermione caught the disappointed and dismayed look on her face before she disappeared and her heart sank to the pit of her stomach because she knew that what Ginny had said was the truth, no matter how much she disapproved of what Harry might be doing to Ginny, she would never betray her best friend, no matter how much it killed her to see his wife in such pain.

The following morning Ginny rose form her bed wearily and roused the children before heading down stairs to the kitchen, Kreacher was making breakfast so she sat at the table with a glass of juice and uncoiled the brand new edition of the Daily Prophet which was laid on it. As she saw the picture and headline on the front page she dropped the glass onto the stone floor making Kreacher almost jump out of his skin, she stared down at it for a few moments in a trance and slowly tears began to creep into her eyes.

"Mrs Potter," said Kreacher mopping up the spill and sweeping away the glass, "Is everything alright Mrs Potter? Can Kreacher get you anything Mrs Potter?" Ginny slowly shook her head but then stopped as she tried to focus, "Yes, Kreacher can you pack a few things for the children I have to...we have to...we're leaving." The words seemed to shake some sense into her and she looked down at the curious expression on Kreacher's face, "Just pack a few things for them please, now."

"Yes Mrs Potter, of course, Kreacher will do it right now," and he scuttled away leaving her alone in the kitchen.

Ginny pulled herself together and walked up the stairs to pack a few things for herself before seeking out the children and asking them to be ready to go away for a while, they looked at her curiously, "What about Daddy?" Albus asked.

"We're just going by ourselves for a while," she explained trying to keep her voice from breaking, "Daddy is very busy with...with the shop," a small sob escaped her as she almost choked on the words which were a lie, "We're going to stay at Aunt Luna's old house." She had told Luna the whole story when she had returned from Hermione and Ron's the night before, she had looked so upset and angry that Luna had refused to go until she knew what was going on. Her friend had then said that if she needed to get away her father was working overseas for a few months on some kind of research and that she could take the children to his house if she felt the need to leave.

"Can we take our toys?" James asked.

"Just a few of them," she whispered, "But get them together quickly and nothing that you can't carry," James nodded and began to tear around the playroom gathering up toys he wanted to take with him, Lily and Albus followed suit but in the corner of the room Vernon sat still and silent on a small stool, as usual he had been watching the other children and had no toys of his own in the room, "You too, Vernon, you'll be taking a few days off school," she said to him and he looked at her as if he didn't understand. "Hurry up, Vernon, get anything you want to take with you but make sure you can carry it," he stood up slowly still looking confused but headed up the stairs to his room where he gathered one or two things together and went back down to the kitchen where the other children and Ginny were waiting by the fireplace.

Harry and Ron found Hermione pacing up and down the living room the next day at lunchtime when they apparated into their home, she had a dishevelled look about her which told them immediately that something was wrong, they had returned in high spirits but one look at the woman who had been their best friend for over twenty years doused them straight away.

"Hermione what is it? Is it the children?" Ron asked but she shook her head.

"Is it Ginny?" Harry asked and his stomach fell to the floor when Hermione's head began to nod. "What's happened?" he asked more forcefully, images of dread ran through his mind as he thought back on the time she had been kidnapped by Lestrange, 

the very reason why he had tried not to marry her but as Hermione unfolded that day's copy of the Prophet he found a new dread, one he had never had before.


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry about some of the mistakes in the last chapter, I'm proof reading this one again before I publish it!!**

**Thanks to my reviewers for the last chapter, I seem to get so many more when I leave it on a cliffhanger!! So here's what's in the Daily Prophet, read on and PLEASE review!!**

Chapter 14

There on the front page of the wizarding newspaper was a full page picture of him with Jenny Wiler, the auror from the Ministry, sitting in a secluded corner of an obscure wizarding pub in the highlands of Scotland; Harry had his hand over hers and was whispering something in her ear, they looked like a cosy couple on a romantic date. He looked up at Hermione who had tears in her eyes then he turned to page four to read the article that went with it, anger flooded through him as he saw the name of the reporter.

_Well loyal readers and devoted fans it has been a long, long time since I have had anything juicy to report about Harry Potter, in fact it has been a long time since I've had anything to report about our favourite wizard at all, but the years of watching and waiting have finally paid off. Yes, avid readers, the day we all knew would come eventually, has finally arrived. We always thought there was something strange going on when our dashing, green eyed hero walked down the aisle with the plain Jane, Ginvera Wessley, some ten years ago, in fact we all know that it almost didn't happen, something apparently blamed on Harry's fear of losing her (a story surely concocted by the said girl when she ran out of the love potion she must have used on him). Well something, or should I say someone, has finally penetrated the said spell cast over our champion by his ordinary wife, one of my loyal photographers who has been trailing Harry quietly ever since he was forced into virtual hiding by his wife, has managed to catch a snap of our handsome idol on the arm of a stunningly attractive young woman from the Ministry's auror office. _

_With sultry good looks and a perfect curvy body Miss Jennifer Wiler is surely a more ideal match for our brave leader, with similar interests to his own we can all see why he has chosen to ensconce himself with this beautiful lady and can only assume that he has kept this relationship under wraps because of some fear of his current wife's wrath. Of course with this outstanding lady from the auror's office to back him up I am sure that there is little she can do to come between them now, I just feel sorry for the poor children who will obviously suffer when they learn about how their mother captured their father's heart for so long. _

_Readers this is Rita Skeeter, official reporter on anything to do with our wonderful hero, assuring you that I will stay hot on the trail of this story and report back to you on the eventual break up of Harry's first marriage (which we all knew would happen!) and maybe the beginning of a second? And even if it doesn't work out at least the unattractive Mrs Potter's spell had finally been defeated so there may be hope for some of you loyal fans yet! Stay tuned._

He flung the paper across the room violently, "When will that woman ever stop sticking her nose in?" he yelled before turning to look at Hermione again, "Does Ginny think I...?" he couldn't bare to finish the sentence, couldn't bare to imagine that she might be thinking he could have done that to her. Hermione nodded her head and began to explain, "She knows you are hiding something from her, she went up to Hogsmeade yesterday and found out that you haven't been at the shop so she came to see me and asked me what we were hiding from you, she knew we'd be in on it too," she gestured to Ron and herself, "She was so angry and I tried to tell her that you weren't doing anything with Jenny Wiler or anyone but she said you'd been uncomfortable around her when you saw her in the Leaky Cauldron and when I said that I couldn't tell her what you were doing she said she knew I would always lie for you even if I didn't approve of what you were doing, she wouldn't believe me Harry, I'm...I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Harry replied walking over to rub her shoulder as she slumped into a chair at the table, "You were right, I should have just told her what we were doing, I just thought if we could keep it quiet she wouldn't need to know, I never liked lying to her but I didn't want her to worry after what happened before."

"I know you didn't Harry and neither would we, but you know she would never have stopped you."

"I know, I...where is she now?" he asked realising that he needed to explain himself.

"I don't know Harry, when I saw the paper this morning I tried to contact her at home but I couldn't get any response so I tried Charlie and he organised a floo appointment for me, but when I got there she'd...she'd gone." Harry's face fell even further, "I went to the Burrow to see if she was there but Molly said she hadn't seen her, that's when I came back here to wait for you I didn't know how else to find her."

"I do," he said quietly reaching into his robes and pulling out a familiar, long, silver instrument, Hermione gasped.

"I'd forgotten about that Harry," she said.

"I had hoped I would never need to use it, but at least it's not for the reason I needed to have it," he said trying to smile. "Ron are you alright to report back? I've got to go and explain, I can't have Ginny thinking that I would..."

"Go Harry, I'll sort everything else out." Harry opened the deluminator he was holding up in his hand and watched as the ball of blue light whizzed out of it and around the room before it went into his body and he was transported through space to wherever it was that his wife had gone.

He landed on a patch of green grass and knew immediately where he was, it was a familiar place, the same place in fact where he and Ginny had finally got together, except that there was something missing, the strange rook shaped house. Harry knew it was there, right in front of him but he couldn't see it, she had obviously known that he would use the deluminator to find her and although it would always take him to wherever she was it could not make him penetrate any magical defences that had been put in place. She had set guards all around the house so that no one, or rather so that Harry, could not get to her, she wanted to be alone.

"Ginny," he called out, "Ginny please let me in I need to talk to you, let me explain." He waited, hoping to see the house appear in front of him but he knew Ginny Weasley and her stubbornness very well and realised that it would not be that easy. He walked all the way around the area where the house should have been desperately trying to find a flaw in the enchantment but his wife was an accomplished witch and he knew his actions were fruitless so he decided to sit and wait. She would be able to see him through her own enchantments and hopefully she would eventually relent and let him in so he could explain everything. 

Harry now wanted to kick himself for not telling her in the first place what he was doing, he realised that Hermione had been right all along and that she wouldn't have stopped him from going if he really wanted to, he had just thought that she would be less worried if she didn't know.

The hours passed slowly as he sat waiting under a tree that he knew could be seen from the house, it was near the place he had seen her on Luna and Neville's wedding day all those years ago, where he had glimpsed her from Luna's bedroom window on her way down to the river at the bottom of the garden. He stared up at the empty space where that window should have been and hoped that Ginny was looking down on him now realising that he would wait there until he could explain everything properly.

As night began to fall a small owl, whom he recognised as Ron's pet, Pigwidgeon, fluttered down from the sky and dropped a tiny roll of parchment on his lap, the neat, tidy handwriting on the outside of the scroll told him that it was Hermione checking that he was alright having not heard from him all day, he opened it up and began to read.

_Harry,_

_Please let us know what's going on we are worried about you. Have you found Ginny? Did she listen to you, if you need to you can come back here and stay but just get in touch please._

_Hermione._

He rolled it back up and pushed it into his pocket as he turned back to look at the empty space again, he stared at it for another few hours before deciding to go back to Ron's for the night and try again in the morning. Standing up he called out her name softly one last time, "Ginny, I'll be back tomorrow, I won't give up on you," then he turned on the spot and apparated back to Hermione and Ron's house. They were sat at their kitchen table looking worried, Harry could tell that Hermione had not stopped fretting all day and he could see worry lines on her forehead, Ron looked a little less stressed but he was probably worrying about how much Hermione was worrying, if he had not been feeling so bad about himself he would have chuckled at them.

Hermione's head snapped up when she heard the crack which signalled Harry's arrival, "What happened? Did you find her?" she gushed as she stood up and moved to put her hand on Harry's arm.

"She's gone to the Lovegood house, I think Xenophilius must be away again."

"Did she speak to you mate? How did she take it?"

"She wouldn't let me in, the house is not there," they looked at him enquiringly, "She's put enchantments around the house to keep me out, the deluminator can't get me through them it will only take me to where she is, you know that," he added looking at Ron who returned a knowing look. "I kept calling out to her and waited all day but she wouldn't let me in." He looked defeated and Hermione put her arms around him and guided him to a chair at the table before conjuring a mug of hot cocoa from the kitchen cupboards. He sat down in the chair and accepted the drink willingly, he had not eaten or had a drink all day while he had been sat under the tree and he only realised now how hungry he was, Ron quickly made him a sandwich which Harry wolfed down like a starving child.

Hermione offered him the spare bedroom in their house and he retired there after he had eaten. He didn't sleep at all through the night, he just lay awake staring at the ceiling and hoping that he would be able to get through to Ginny the next day, as the sun came through the blinds at the window Harry dragged himself out of bed and pulled on the same robes he had been wearing the day before. After eating a slice of toast foisted upon him by Hermione he apparated back to the Lovegood house and found that it still wasn't visible to him so he settled back down under the tree to wait some more.

At the end of his second day of waiting Harry decided to visit Luna and Neville to see if he could get in another way, he knew it would be tricky as Luna was a good friend to them both but had obviously decided to stick by Ginny in this matter but he had to try something. Leaving his spot beneath the tree shortly before nightfall Harry decided to walk over to their house which was at the bottom of the Lovegood house's garden. Lights were blazing from the downstairs windows so he knew they must be home.

Harry approached the front door quietly and knocked, he heard footsteps on the other side of it and stepped back so it wouldn't hit him when it opened.

"Hey Harry," said Neville with a sympathetic look on his face, "Can't say I haven't been expecting you. Come in mate," he opened the door and gestured for Harry to enter the house where he lived with Luna and their two children, Salamander and Consuela. "Go on into the living room if you want, Luna's out with the kids." Harry followed his suggestion and settled himself onto Neville's wavy couch, sighing a little at the relief of sitting on something comfortable for the first time that day. His friend appeared in the doorway a few minutes later holding two bottles of butterbeer, he offered one to Harry before sitting down in a heart shaped armchair opposite him.

Harry looked around at the strange assortment of furniture in the room, it was definitely a room which had been decorated by Luna, the sofa and the chair in which Neville sat were not the only places to sit in the room, an odd assortment of brightly coloured, mismatched chairs were crowded together around a stone fireplace which was carved with mermaids, dragons and fairies all of which had been hand painted by Luna herself in lurid colours. Four chandeliers hung from the ceiling each one made from different coloured crystals which held long thin candles in different sized horns which Harry assumed Luna would believe were from the crumple horned snorcack that she and her father were always looking for.

The walls of the room were painted with various pictures also done by Luna herself, each one depicted someone from the Lovegood or Longbottom family including one of Neville's parents which even Harry had to hold in high regard. Neville's parents had passed away a few years before, after being tortured into insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange and her husband during the first war with Voldemort, Frank and Alice Longbottom had spent their lives on a closed ward in St Mungos hospital for magical maladies and injuries, leaving their only son to be brought up by his paternal grandmother, Augusta Longbottom. They had survived for many years on the closed ward where even Luna herself had cared for them in her years as a healer but his father had passed away at the age of fifty nine and his mother followed only a few weeks later, Neville liked to believe that somewhere in her jumbled head she knew that her soulmate had gone and she had wanted to join him.

After a few moments of drinking in silence Neville finally spoke to Harry, "You want to ask Luna to get you into the house don't you?" Harry could tell by the defeatist tone of his voice that this was not going to happen. "I don't know exactly what's going on mate and I'm sure you have a perfectly reasonable explanation for everything but Luna's not prepared to believe that unless she hears it from Ginny. You know she's always loyal to Ginny above anyone else."

"I know, and I appreciate that really, I'm glad she has someone to turn to like Luna while she's going through this, but you're right there is an explanation for all of this, it may not seem reasonable to everyone but I swear I have not been seeing anyone else."

"I know that Harry, you're not that kind of person, but you know Luna, she offered her the house and she won't get you in unless Ginny wants to see you."

"I don't suppose you can...?"

"Only Luna can get in without Ginny's say so mate, sorry otherwise you know I would." He looked compassionately at Harry who visibly deflated again.

"Thanks anyway mate," he replied flatly.

"I could ask Luna," he offered but the look on his face told Harry that he didn't relish the idea.

"No, this is my mess Neville, I don't want to put you and Luna in an awkward position, I'll just have to wait and see if she relents a little, I don't think she'd keep the children from me for-" he was interrupted by a swishing sound in the fireplace and a moment later Luna stepped out with Salamander and Consuella clinging to her side. Luna didn't notice Harry sitting on the couch so she immediately began a softly spoken tirade at Neville, "She's absolutely beside herself up there Neville," her husband looked at her trying to indicate that Harry was behind her but she was completely oblivious. "She said he's been sat outside again waiting for her and he keeps calling out to her, strange isn't it? I think she needs some time to be alone and work out what she's going to do, I left her by the…why do you keep looking at me so strangely Neville?" she said without changing her tone of voice at all, finally noticing that he kept glaring at her making his eyes practically bulge out of his head and nodding it at Harry.

"I think he's trying to tell you subtly that I'm here Luna," Harry said in a defeatist voice, Luna turned round and looked at him.

"Oh, Harry," she said softly.

"It's alright Luna, I'll go I've just said to Neville I don't want you to be in the middle of this, I'm just grateful that you are there for Ginny. I can assure you there is an explanation but I understand why you need Ginny to believe that first, you are a good friend to her Luna." The pale young woman just stared at him and nodded her head while her children, who had only just noticed he was there too, ran and clambered all over their 'uncle' completely unaware of his sadness.

"Don't go Uncle Harry," said Salamander, he was the eldest of the two children and had a look of his father with the pale skin and hair of his mother, both he and his sister, who was a year younger than him, had the temperament and personality of their mother with their father's love of plants. Neville always said that he hoped they had both inherited their mother's aptitude at school work rather than his, though he was impressed that they were as enthusiastic as he was about herbology. Salamander would be attending Hogwarts in the same year that Albus would and Neville was looking forward to being able to teach them both, as well as all the other children of his friends when they came along.

"Sorry you two," Harry answered ruffling their hair with his hands, "I have to get back to…" he looked up at Luna remembering that she had just said Ginny needed to be alone, "...Uncle Ron's," he finished and Luna looked relieved. Putting Consuella, who had just climbed onto his knee, back on the floor Harry stood up and so did Neville, shaking his friend's hand he nodded at Luna and then stepped into their fireplace where he said quietly, "Ron and Hermione's," before whirling out of view.

He had spent only a few minutes at the table in their home when a silver shape suddenly flitted into the room, he recognised it at once as Neville's patronus, in a slow calm voice which was identical to Neville's the shimmering creature said in a whisper, "She's by the river, on the loveseat, but hurry," then the animal disappeared like a wisp of smoke and Harry looked up at the ceiling.

"Thank you, Neville," he whispered to himself and then rose to leave the house, if she was outside Harry could at least start to explain, she might get up and go as soon as he started to speak but it was worth a try that she might decide to stay and listen to him.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

He apparated to a spot near the front of the house so she wouldn't be alerted to his presence and then made his way slowly down the hill to the river at the bottom of the valley. He could see the clump of trees on the opposite bank which he knew were parallel with the loveseat where he and Ginny had finally got together at the end of Neville and Luna's wedding. The seat itself was within the enchantment because he couldn't see it but he knew that by now Ginny would probably have seen him and possibly may have left but he sat down on the grass on the same side of the riverbank and looked out at the clump of trees.

"I'm sorry," he began in a downcast voice, "Hermione was right, I should have told you what was going on. You have to believe me though Ginny, I would never do...I...I haven't been...doing what you think I've been doing, that...that picture it...it was all innocent I swear to you Ginny, I love you more than anything, you know that, I would never even look at another woman, you are my everything and after everything we went through to be together, I...I wouldn't jeopardise that by cheating on you please believe me Gin, you know, deep down you know I wouldn't, don't you?" he sighed hoping she was on the other side of the invisible barrier listening to him.

"But...I...I have been hiding something," he confessed and took a deep breath, "Hermione tried to persuade me to tell you what I was doing but I thought...I didn't...I knew you'd..." looking down at his hands he whispered, "I've been working for Abery." He paused and waited for a minute. "I'm sorry," he went on when nothing happened trusting that she was still there and not back in the house, "when he wanted me to go in and talk to him he needed my help, he wanted Ron and Hermione too. One of his aurors had been tracking a dark wizard and he'd discovered that the wizard had created a horcrux. Ron, Hermione and I are the only living people who have had any experience of destroying them so he asked me to come back with Ron at least as Hermione was reluctant to leave the children. I couldn't turn him down, Gin, he was desperate for some professional help, no one else knew where to start, but I knew you'd be angry if I went back and I didn't think it would take us long to find it and destroy it so I..." he paused as suddenly new shapes began to appear in front of his eyes, a few trees that had not been there before, a small expanse of grass by the riverbank, the hill which led back up to the Lovegood house and there right in front of him Luna's mother's loveseat occupied by Ginny who was sat with a shawl around her slumped shoulders looking out at the river with her wand held loosely in her hand. Harry just sat and stared with his mouth still open from the end of his sentence.

"So you lied to me instead," Ginny said without looking up, a hurt twinge in her voice, "All of you."

Harry looked shame faced but stood up slowly and walked over to sit beside her on the seat, he tentatively tried to reach out for her hand but she flinched and he pulled it back. "I was stupid, Gin, I know that now but I also didn't want you worrying, after what happened last time I knew you would be on edge and I didn't want to put you through that again."

"But you put me through this instead?" she whispered hoarsely, he could tell that she had spent a lot of time crying and his heart ached unbearably for her, "you let me think that you were having an affair?"

"I'm so sorry Gin, I shouldn't have lied to you I know that, when Hermione showed me the paper and I realised what must have been going through your head I was beside myself, I never wanted you to feel that pain. I was stupid and I'm sorry." He tried to take her hand in his again but she pulled away, he looked at her willing back the tears which were threatening to flow from his eyes.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, Ginny was staring out at the trees on the opposite bank while Harry looked at her profile, eventually she turned to face him for the first time and said, "I don't know how to...or what to feel. I feel relieved that I was wrong about one thing but you lied about something as important as this...you could have been..." she shuddered and continued, "yes I would have been worried but you still should have told me, I would have...I don't know Harry, you've never lied to me before, I don't know what to think." She looked away from him again.

"Ginny, please forgive me, you have to, I love you so much and I can't bear to be apart like this," he pleaded.

"Neither can I Harry, but I can't just forget about it, about how you've made me feel, I thought we'd always be honest with each other and this is such a big thing, what would have happened if you had been...or...or had your memory wiped, properly this time, how would I have coped with that? With having to hear that from Hermione or Abery when I didn't even know you were working again?"

"I thought I'd be safe Gin, it wasn't dangerous like before-"

"THEN WHY NOT JUST TELL ME?" she bellowed finally showing her anger to him.

"I should have," he said wearily looking into his lap again as Ginny turned her head and looked back out over the river, "So what was the picture?" Ginny asked.

"I was just meeting with Jenny, she had been put on the case with the other auror who had been tracking him and we needed to report back to her on a weekly basis, we were looking in different places which were significant to the wizard, like when we were tracing Voldemort's horcruxes, and we kept hitting dead ends but we had to tell her what we had found."

"So why did you look so cosy?" she said tersely, "why not just go to her in the Ministry?"

"Because I would have been there too often, Abery didn't want everyone to know I was working for him and neither did I in case..."

"In case I found out," she stated firmly, Harry looked at her shamefaced again as she looked out across the water once more.

"I'm sorry."

"It still doesn't explain why you looked so cosy with her."

"I wasn't, you know Skeeter, she plays on anything. We met in different places each time and kept to the shadowy corners where we thought that we wouldn't be seen. And we weren't alone, Ron was always there too, he was there on that day, I was passing her something in that photograph, but you know what Skeeter will do, she'll turn anything." Ginny nodded her head slightly but still wouldn't look up at him.

"Ginny..." he reached out cautiously towards her hand for a third time and she didn't pull it away. He held it gently and stroked the back with his thumb but she didn't respond, or make a sound at all.

"The children miss you," she said after a few more moments of silence, "you should go up and see them," she added moving her hand away from his, he watched it mournfully but did not try to seize it back.

"Gin-"

"Just go and see them Harry. Let me think, please."

Harry sat for a moment longer looking at his unhappy wife on the loveseat staring across the water at a far off spot on the horizon, a spot he thought she wasn't really seeing as she tried to process everything he had told her. Then he stood up and set off up the hill to the house giving her some time to sort out what she was thinking and feeling.

As he reached the back gate to the house he saw his daughter and two sons chasing each other around the garden, Lily was squealing as James chased her and Albus tried to ward him off, as always his middle child was Lily's protector.

"Daddy," Lily squealed when she spotted him and ran out of the circle she had been treading straight into his arms, "you're here, Mummy said you couldn't come but you did." She beamed up at her father who smiled back and lifted her onto his shoulders before turning to his sons and asking, "Have you been good for your mother boys?"

They nodded enthusiastically before replying "She went down to the river for half an hour," James said and then puffed out his chest before adding, "she left me in charge."

"Of course she would," Harry said, "and you did a good job of it too. Where's Vernon?"

"In front of the house reading a book, he hasn't spoken as usual," he droned, "since we left the house but he did find something in Xenophilius' library to read."

"Oh, well as long as he's busy," Harry added, "so what have you been doing while you've been here?"

"Just playing," James answered, "It's boring though, when can we go back home?"

"Soon," Harry replied, "Mum just wanted a bit of time away from the house," he continued as an explanation, James looked at him suspiciously for a second but he let the explanation pass.

"But why did we come here?" Albus asked, "Why didn't we go to the Burrow and stay with Nan and Granddad?"

"Because Mum wanted a change," he replied, "anyway enough about that, anyone for a game of wizard chess back in the house?"

"Me," Albus answered first jumping to his feet and together they all walked to the back door where he placed Lily back on her feet. James set up the chess game while Harry went to look for Vernon, he found him sat by the front door in the garden reading a book about magical creatures which surprised Harry, he tried to hide it as soon as he spotted his uncle but it was too late.

"Reading?" he asked casually trying to recall any time when he had seen the boy's father read a book. Vernon nodded his head in response but did not speak to Harry. "Have you been alright here with Ginny?" he nodded again. "Do you want to come inside and watch us play chess? I could teach you if you want?" This time Vernon shook his head at Harry so he sighed and then left him to continue reading while he spent some time with his children.

Half an hour passed during which time Albus managed to beat his father at chess before guiding Lily in a second game which she too was on the way to winning when Ginny appeared in the doorway. "Mummy I'm winning," Lily called to her and Harry saw his wife's beautiful smile appear on her face.

"Well done darling," she replied putting on her usual cheery expression for the children, "but it's time for bed now sweetheart, Vernon's on his way in and you're all off upstairs, say goodbye to Daddy," her voice dipped a little as she said 'Daddy' and Harry looked up at her quizzically.

"Aren't we going home now Dad's here?" James asked.

"No, darling," she replied.

"But we want to go home now with Dad," James continued sulkily.

"Isn't Daddy staying too?" Lily asked glancing quickly from one parent to another. Ginny looked at Harry and then shook her head, he opened his mouth to argue but decided to wait until the children were in bed.

"Come on, do as your Mum says off to bed all of you, I'll see you tomorrow," he said ruffling the boys' hair and lifting Lily up for a hug, Ginny smiled briefly in gratitude to Harry before guiding all the children upstairs.

Harry waited downstairs while Ginny settled them all into bed, he looked around the strange home of Xenophilius Lovegood, it hadn't changed very much since the first time he had come to the house when he was on the hunt for the pieces of Voldemort's soul, even though they had destroyed parts of the house during that visit he had rebuilt them exactly as they had been before. It was a little less cluttered now than it had been in the past as it had once been the office and printing station for Xenophilius's wizarding magazine, the Quibler, but the strange rag had taken off shortly after the death of Voldemort when people had realised that the Daily Prophet had been hiding the truth while the Quibler had been reporting it. Although it was still filled with rubbish about the now infamous crumple horned snorcack, which Luna and her father still insisted was real, people still bought more copies than ever before and a few years ago the eccentric publisher had hired out a small office in Diagon Alley and taken on a few members of staff to help with the monthly publication. This now meant that the living room was clear of printing equipment which had made it very cramped before, so there was now a modicum of space available and the room had more of a homely feel to it. Harry was pondering all of this when Ginny appeared in the doorway, "Thank you," she whispered softly and he nodded at her.

"Do they know what's going on?" he asked.

"I think James is a bit suspicious but he's not saying anything, Albus and Lily just think we're having a little holiday from the house because you are working so much," Harry looked guiltily at the floor, "and Vernon has barely left my side." He glanced back up at her then with a surprised look on his face, "I know, ever since we came here he's followed me round like a shadow but still not interacting with the children, he doesn't say anything to me but he hasn't been hiding away from us and every time I have asked him to do something he's done it immediately."

"That's strange, but I'm glad, maybe you've managed to bring him around a little. You have been around him more then I have," he added guiltily as he walked across the room to where she was standing however Ginny took a step backwards away from him and he stopped. "You want me to go, don't you?" she nodded at him and he looked defeated. "Are you leaving me?" he continued, the words almost chocking him as he said them.

Ginny walked into the room and sat in a chair by the window, without looking at him she said "I need some time Harry," he felt a slight relief that she hadn't said no. "I know you've explained and I believe you, but...you still lied to me, and whatever the reason it was something you have never done before."

"And something I will never do again Ginny, I'm sorry really I am," he pleaded coming to stand in front of her.

"I know you are Harry and I forgive you I just..."

"What?" he asked.

"I don't know Harry," she concluded in a deflated voice. "Just go home and let me think, please."

Harry dropped his head and sighed deeply, he could understand he supposed, he had never lied to her before and this had been a big lie which had got out of hand and caused her pain. She would need some time without him to deal with that pain. He sat down on his haunches in front of her and took her hand in his she flinched a little but did not withdraw it. "I'll go Gin, but please remember that I'm sorry, I'm really sorry."

"I know Harry," she said as tears began to cloud her eyes, he longed to hold her in his arms and tell her it would be alright, that is what he would have done if it hadn't been he who had caused this pain. Harry stood up again and leaned over to kiss his wife but she turned her head and he caught a damp cheek, the tears had started to fall from her eyes but as he tried to wipe them away she stood up and moved away from him to stand in front of the window.

"I'll be at home," he said and then turned to walk from the room.

"Thank you," she called without turning from the window to look at him.

Harry trudged out of the house into the garden before apparating home. Arriving on the front doorstep he took out his wand and unlocked the door with it, the alerts sounded and seconds later Kreacher appeared at the foot of the stairs, he was carrying silverware and had a rag in one hand, he had obviously been trying to keep busy by re-polishing the Black silver.

"Mr Potter, sir," he mumbled, "you are alone?"

"Yes Kreacher, Mrs Potter and the children are staying at Luna's father's house for a while," he replied in that same defeated voice as the wizened elf nodded in understanding. "Leave all that and get into bed, Kreacher," Harry continued kindly, he hated to see the aging creature doing too much though it was difficult to stop him.

Harry climbed the stairs wearily and headed for his marital bedroom alone thinking over what he had done and the lies he had told, on entering the room he immediately noticed the absence of some of Ginny's things and as he laid down on his side of the bed he put out a hand out to touch the place where she should have been. He realised that he had never been in this bed alone before, when he had first returned from killing Voldemort and life had returned to normal he had been unable to bear the thought of living here in the house which Sirius had hated, the place where he had had to hide for a year. Harry had closed the house up and returned Kreacher to Hogwarts to help with the rebuilding, he had lived with the Weasleys for a while until he and Ron had decided to get a flat and it wasn't until he had married Ginny and realised they needed a safe place to live that he had reopened and revived the noble house of Black turning it from a rotting, gloomy hovel into the beautiful and homely Potter house that it now was.

Every night he had spent here since then he had spent with Ginny, Harry could barely even think of a time when he had been in the house without Ginny or at least one of their children in the last ten years they had been there. He sighed and buried his head in the pillow trying to erase what he was feeling, or at least mask it for a while. Deciding that he would not get to sleep easily with his mind in such turmoil the raven haired wizard went down to the library and poured himself a large glass of firewhiskey from a hidden cupboard and sat at the large, polished, oak desk near the window gazing out at the dark street below. A photograph album lay open on the table and Harry could see his children waving up at him from a multitude of family pictures he had taken over the years, they were out at the Burrow having a picnic in the garden with Molly and Arthur, Lily was just a baby and the boys were toddling off down to the river with Teddy behind them. A picture of Ginny smiling at them caught his attention and his face fell as he took a large swig of the amber liquid from the tumbler he had in his hand, it burned his throat as he swallowed it and the heat continued into his stomach, he welcomed the pain it gave him for a few seconds as it eased the pain that he was feeling in his heart.

A tap at the window distracted him from the photographs and he looked up to see Pig, Ron's owl, flapping at the library window. Rising slowly from his seat like a dead weight he trudged over to the glass and flung it wide open, Pig swooped into the room, landed on the desk and held out his thin leg proudly so Harry could remove the small piece of parchment from it. He scratched the feathered creature behind the ear and then it took off delicately and flew back out of the window in search of a hunt having completed his mission for the night. Meanwhile Harry unrolled the piece of parchment in his hands it was from Ron and had obviously been scribbled down in a rush.

_Harry,_

_Mate what's going on? We heard you come in and then go again almost immediately so we flooed Luna and Neville and he told us that he'd told you to go down to the riverbank where Ginny was, we sat up and waited to hear from you but that was hours ago now. Neville flooed in to say that the house had come back into view so we assumed Gin let you in and lifted the enchantment but are you still there? Mum flooed in to see what was going on because she's been trying to get hold of Ginny at Grimmauld Place for days and has had no response, then she'd seen the paper and came over to find out what was happening. We told her it was all a load of rubbish and that Jenny works for Abery and you've been giving her information about Horcruxes, decided not to mention we've actually been working for him because she was about ready to blow when she saw the Prophet. She's gone to assure everyone else that it's ok and we've told her that you and Gin decided to have a few days away with the children but went last minute without telling anyone. She seemed to buy it but muttered about it only taking a few minutes to let people know, of course she was mad at Skeeter by that point too so she was venting all her anger on the paper, ours is just a pile of ash now! I think she's told everyone else the story but we wanted to know if everything is alright? We didn't want to floo over to the Lovegood's if you two are making up or sorting stuff out but just put our minds at rest please mate._

_Ron_

Harry sighed and then tore off a small empty space from the bottom of the letter and scrawled a few words on to it.

_Ron_

_I've seen Gin, she knows the whole story, she's thinking at the Lovegood's. I'm back at home, thanks for covering with Molly. Will be in touch soon. _

_Harry_

It wasn't much but it told them what they needed to know and at least now they would get a proper night's sleep something Harry knew he was unlikely to get.


	16. Chapter 16

**Thanks as always to my reviewers, some of you gave me things to think about in terms of where to take the story and I almost changed parts of it, but I always have my stories finished before I publish on here! So here is the next update, hope it's worthy!**

**And don't forget to review!!**

Chapter 16

Ginny tossed and turned all night in the large empty bed, her mind whirred with Harry's explanation, she believed him completely and knew she had been stupid to think he would ever cheat on her but when she had known he was hiding something and then she'd seen the picture in the paper her turmoiled mind had made the connection for itself. It all made sense now that he had explained it all, and it was Harry all over, trying to protect her from the worry and the heartache that she knew she would have gone through.

However the last few days had been filled with heartache anyway and even his justification had not taken that feeling away, she had played a conversation over and over in her head while they had hidden at the Lovegood's where he had told her that he had a reasonable explanation for the photograph and she had imagined feeling relief that he had not been cheating, imagined forgiving him instantly realising the insanity of her thoughts and then taking their children and herself back to Grimmauld Place with Harry where everything would have continued as normal. Of course she had also imagined conversations where he had told her that it was all true, sometimes he would say he was leaving her, sometimes he would say it meant nothing and he would beg Ginny to take him back, in these scenarios she had not forgiven him and had not taken him back, she had wept and worried and felt her heart break. But now, now he had told her the rational reason, one which made perfect sense to Ginny she did not feel relieved, or ready to forget and go back to their perfect life because she now realised that to Harry it wasn't perfect.

She had always been grateful to Harry when he had given up working at the Ministry, while she would never have forced him to do it, she had also known that after the debacle of his final mission she would have advised him to do so and hoped against hope that he would heed her. When he had decided to give it all up to be with her and their son she had been relieved and for a time, happy, but as the years had passed a nagging sense of guilt had crept in there, it had festered in her heart laying dormant and hidden most of the time. He had seemed elated to be spending his time with her and James and as the years passed by his other children too but she could always feel that there was a small sense of regret somewhere that he had given up his job for her and their family and no matter how much or how often he had tried to deny it she knew that it was there. Now he had admitted that he was working for them again she had not felt that relief she had imagined in the same way, although it had healed the part of her heart which had imagined Harry loving someone else like he loved her, it had awakened that guilty part of her heart, the one which tore her apart as she knew she would not be able to bear being with Harry if he was putting himself in danger again.

The unhappy young woman completely understood why Harry had kept it from her because he knew that she did not want him to go back to the Ministry and that she would be worried and unhappy if he did. So he had lied to her, tried to cover it all up with a story and she had gone on happy and oblivious to the danger he was in once more until now. But now she also knew that she had been right all along, that that festering guilt had been right, Harry would not have gone back to work for Abery if he had not had some sense of regret, yes he was a new head and he had initiated many changes in the auror office but the job was still a dangerous one, it still involved trailing and capturing evil wizards capable of doing anything to anyone without regret or remorse.

She had not minded Harry advising in the office and she understood why he had needed to share his expertise on horcruxes with the department but she also knew he would not have needed to go out in search of them, other younger and fitter aurors could have done that. Harry's injury in his knee was now absent to the visual eye but there was permanent damage which meant he was not able to move as quickly as he once could in battle. But he had gone back to be the man he was, yes the man Ginny had fallen in love with but he was a different man now, he had different responsibilities, precious few aurors were married with families because most of them met a terrible fate or had to be pensioned out with injuries meaning they were not aurors anymore. Harry had survived a lot in his life but that would not go on forever, she had almost lost him once and she could not bear to go through that again and she certainly could not put the children through a life like that.

Getting up out of bed the deflated witch made her way to the kitchen where she poured out a glass of pumpkin juice and sat staring out of the window watching the sun rise over the trees, soft red glows streaked across the purple sky making it look like they were on fire, she sighed and tried to empty her mind but it wouldn't happen, her thoughts would not go away.

A knock at the door a few hours later startled Ginny from her slumber, she had finally drifted off head on her arms at the kitchen table shortly after the sun had fully risen, she wiped her eyes and looked blearily at the kitchen door. Dragging herself from the chair she walked over and opened it to see Hermione on the other side looking sheepish, "Can I come in?" she asked quietly and the younger witch stepped to one side so she could pass before joining her at the table using the seat she had just vacated. "Ginny, I'm sorry," Hermione began, "I didn't want to lie to you and I tried to tell Harry not to keep it all from you but..." she drifted off looking helplessly at her friend, "Please forgive me and," her voice dropped, "Harry."

Ginny took a deep breath prior to speaking, she was exhausted. "I forgive you Hermione," the older witch looked slightly relieved, "and I forgive Harry," her face lifted, "for lying to me."

"Oh," said Hermione.

"I know why he did it, I can understand it, and I know why you and Ron went along with it," Hermione looked guiltily in her direction, "he didn't want me to worry and he thought it would all be over and done with in a few short weeks."

"So why are you angry at him still?"

"I'm not," Ginny replied flatly.

"Disappointed? Upset?"

"Hermione I'm not feeling angry at him or disappointed, but I know now what I've suspected all along , that he regrets leaving the Ministry."

"No, Ginny, no he doesn't, he went back because he could help with this case that's all, he doesn't want to go back full time."

"I know he could help with the case, Hermione, and I know he has a lot of knowledge about horcruxes which he could have shared with them, but he didn't need to go chasing them did he? He could have advised them and given them information and drawn conclusions from what they knew but he didn't need to place himself in that danger again did he? He did that because he missed it, because he regrets leaving, because he wanted to go back." Hermione was speechless.

"But...he...they...they've finished now and he's done, he doesn't want to do it anymore, he wants to be at home with you."

"Until the next time."

"What?"

"The next time, the next time they need his help and he'll go because he wants to, because he regrets giving it up in the first place."

"But he'll never lie to you again Ginny, he's learned that, if he goes back then he will tell you."

"Yes so I can worry and be unhappy and the children too, it's a dangerous job and a dangerous life Hermione. I don't want him to go back to it, ever. But I don't want to force him to give it up either."

"So what do you want Ginny?"

"I want Harry to be happy, but I need to put our children first. I can't live that life again Hermione, worrying all the time, praying that he will be safe, living without him for days and sometimes months on end, I know it sounds selfish but the children can't do it either and I won't put them through it day after day waiting for bad news all the time."

"You won't have to Ginny, he'll give it up for you, for all of you, he has already, trust me."

"I know that Hermione but it makes it even worse, he's given it up for me and for them but he regrets it and that regret will gnaw away at him until it starts to affect us, like it has now, his regret made him lie to me and look what's happened because of it. We will suffer if he feels like that Hermione."

"But he'll suffer if you leave him and take the children with you."

"I will never stop him from seeing the children, they need him as much as he needs them, but we will suffer if we stay and I have to think about them before Harry or myself."

"Oh Ginny, please don't do this, you can't...you and Harry have to be...you're strong...you...you have to stay together." Tears began to spill from her eyes as she spoke and she choked on the words, across the table Ginny stared at her willing her own tears to remain at bay, was she really saying that her life with Harry was over? Was she telling her best friend that she would live without the man she loved so deeply that it hurt? The man she had fought through so much for? The father of her children? "Please," Hermione sobbed, "Ginny, he loves you, he loves you all so much, he wouldn't ever put the Ministry before any of you, he just wants you all."

"I know, Hermione," Ginny croaked, "but I don't know if we'll ever be enough." The tears overflowed from her eyes and she cried, they gushed like rivers down her cheeks and Hermione ran round the table to hold her in her arms while the sobs wracked her body.

"You don't want this," the elder woman whispered.

"I don't know if I have a choice," Ginny replied.

"You do Gin, remember when he didn't want to marry you and you believed in him? You said he would be there and we found a way, you didn't want to be without him then, you said there was nothing that could keep you apart, you told Harry that if you weren't going to be with him then you wouldn't be with anybody, how can that have changed? How could you rather be alone without him than by his side letting him do whatever he has to do?"

"The children, Hermione, the children. I was young then, young and in love, I wanted to be with Harry no matter what, but we've been through a lot since then and I have them to think about, do you honestly think you could live with Ron knowing he was out on dangerous missions all the time, knowing that there is every chance he might not come back?"

"I have been Ginny, he's been out there with Harry remember? You don't think I've forgotten what you went through do you? I've been worried sick about them both all the time they've been doing this and I knew what could happen to them, to Ron. Yes there was every chance that he might not have come back to me, Rose and Hugo, but it's what he wanted to do and I had to let him do it."

"Well then you're stupid, and you don't know what it's like to have him taken away from you, to have someone tell you that he's missing, probably dead. I can't do it Hermione, I just can't."

"But you'll be alone and miserable anyway if you leave Ginny."

"Yes, but I will move on in time, and I will focus everything on the children."

"But Ginny you don't have to."

"I know and that just leads us back to me feeling guilty and Harry starting to resent me and the children."

"He won't do that Gin," Hermione pleaded.

"We don't know that Hermione," she stated wiping the tears from her eyes and standing up, "Look, thank you for coming to check on me, but I want you to go, I need to be alone, I need to think." Hermione opened her mouth to argue but the look on Ginny's face told her that she meant it and she knew that no amount of arguing and persuading was going to change her mind. She had been in this position before, but on the other side of it, trying to find a way to persuade Harry to marry Ginny even when all of his instincts were telling him it was dangerous, then she had used Professor McGonagall to help change his mind and it had worked, but they were much more mature now, able to make these decisions and weigh up the pros and cons without the wise words of older wizards.

"Please don't do this Ginny," she beseeched once more pleading with her eyes as she stood up and then slowly turned on the spot apparating from the kitchen with the usual loud POP.

Ginny walked back to the little wooden table and sat down again staring out of the window once more at the beautiful sky shining bright azure blue over the tops of the trees and replaying the conversation she had just had with her sister in law. Now she had said it all aloud to another person it seemed to make more sense, before it had been a reel of words and thoughts which had played out in her mind, thoughts that she had not really believed until now, now she had said them, had actually made them into statements they all made sense and she suddenly began to realise how Harry must have felt all those years ago when he had told her he couldn't marry her.

Ginny Potter could actually feel her heart breaking, the pain inside of her was unbearable, she had actually said, actually confirmed that she would not be going back to Harry, which ever way she looked at it she could not see a way for them both to be happy and at least this way their heartache and pain would pass soon and not either build up slowly gnawing away at them silently or come quickly and unexpectedly next week, next month or in a few years a threat always hanging over them ready to strike when they weren't ready. She put her head in her hands and sobbed, she cried for herself, she cried for Harry and she cried for her children.


	17. Chapter 17

**THanks as always to my reviewers! Glad the last chapter got my point across, I know it was a bit depressing and sad but it needed to be!**

**Anyway I hope this chapter helps to put her reasons across again! I say nothing about the outcome of the story so as always read and review, please!**

Chapter 17

Harry was woken by a sharp rap on the window pane, he had passed out in the swivel chair at the library desk after finishing half of the firewhiskey bottle, he lifted his head sharply at the sound and then inhaled swiftly as he felt the after effects of the burning liquid. His head pounded and the tapping seemed to echo around his brain, he could almost feel whatever it was tapping away at his brain and he groaned loudly shielding his eyes from the bright sunlight which was filtering through the closed window. Once he was able to focus he saw that the tapping was once again coming from Pig so he dragged himself from the chair and opened the window once more to allow him in, he did not look happy at having been made to deliver another letter to the same place mere hours after his first visit. As soon as Harry had removed the note from his leg Pig flew back out of the window almost hitting him in the head with his wing on the way, unrolling the note he saw Ron's untidy scrawl again.

_Harry, let us in we need to talk to you about Ginny._

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair after discarding the parchment on the desk, finding his wand in the pocket of his robes he cast a spell to alleviate the throbbing in his head and walked down to the kitchen where Kreacher was busy cleaning, "I'm going out," he said as he stepped into the fireplace and flooed out to Ron and Hermione's.

They were sat at the kitchen table when he whirled into view, "Harry, oh finally," Hermione said leaping up to greet him, "you look terrible," she added.

"Thanks," he replied sullenly. Recognising the after effects of a night on firewhiskey Ron jumped up and began to make a potion for Harry which he knew would make him feel better, he may not have been the best potion maker when they were at school but a hangover cure was one that he had perfected during his adult years. A few minutes later Harry drained the glass and pulled a horrible face of disgust before focusing on his friends, Hermione started on him, "Harry, you've got to go and see Ginny as soon as you can, she's talking about it all being over."

"What?" he said utterly flabbergasted, "But last night she just said she needed to think, why would she decide on that? I thought she just needed some time to herself?"

"So did we, but this morning I went to see her and she said that she couldn't live that life again where she was worrying about you all the time, that she couldn't put the children through that and that she wouldn't be able to cope if they told her you were gone...again."

"But I don't want that either." He stressed jumping to his feet and beginning to pace up and down the kitchen running his fingers through his hair, "I've done with it all now, that was it."

"But she thinks you want to go back and that if you don't go you will one day start to blame them all for it and resent them."

"I...no...I wouldn't...ever."

"We know that Harry, but she doesn't, she's not happy about it and she doesn't want to go but she feels she has no choice, Harry you have to go and see her, please, you two can't...after all you've...you have to be together...you have to make her see that."

"I'm going Hermione, I'm going now," he said as he began to turn on the spot.

"Wait," Hermione called, "Let me come with you, I'll take the children over to the Burrow and you can be alone, try and get it all sorted out," she finished taking hold of his hand.

"Thank you," he whispered in reply.

They apparated to the Lovegood house and landed in the front garden, Lily and Albus were playing nearby and both of them looked up, startled, when they saw them appear from nowhere with a loud POP, "Daddy," Lily squealed running into his arms and almost knocking him off balance, "have you come to take us home now? James is getting bored and keeps arguing with Albus all the time, he's upstairs on his own, thinking." Harry chuckled at her and tried to keep at bay the thought that she might not come home to him properly ever again.

"Soon, darling," he whispered, "I need to talk to Mummy for a bit, you're going to go to the Burrow with Aunt Hermione okay?" he asked and she looked past her father to see her Aunt waiting patiently at the gate.

"Yay, the Burrow," she called and Harry put her down on the floor just as Ginny appeared in the doorway, she had heard them apparate into the garden from the front room where she had been sitting trying to contemplate her life without this man who now stood in front of her. She watched him putting down their daughter and her heart broke, he loved the children so much and she had always loved to see him with them, could she really live without that? But then, wouldn't she have to?

"Ginny," Harry said breathlessly, "we need to talk," he walked over to her but did not attempt to touch her though he wanted to so much.

"Yes, Harry, we do," she said.

"Let me take the children to the Burrow, Ginny," Hermione interjected, "we'll stay there until you are..." she drifted off unable to say or even imagine where they might be in a few hours time.

"Thank you," Ginny replied, "Lily, Albus get yourselves ready while I go and get James and Vernon."

The weary looking witch returned a few minutes later with an elated James and a quiet Vernon, who was clinging to her hand. "You two go with Aunt Hermione for a while, she's going to take you all to the Burrow for a bit while me and Daddy have a chat." James eyed her suspiciously and Vernon refused to let go of her hand at first but she held their arms out in front of them and he stepped forwards to walk over to Hermione. He refused to meet her face with his eyes, instead he kept his head bent down but did as he had been told by Ginny.

Once the five of them had set off towards the woods which separated the Lovegood house from the Burrow Harry turned to look at his wife and gestured to the door saying, "Shall we go inside?" Ginny walked ahead of him into the living room where she took a seat alone by the window while Harry perched on the end of a chaise longue looking over at his beautiful wife who refused to look back at him.

"I suppose Hermione told you what I said?" she started breaking the silence between them and Harry nodded at her before leaping across the room and sitting at her side in another chair, he tried to take her hand but she drew it away.

"Please, Ginny, please don't leave me – "

"Harry, I – "

"No, Ginny you don't, you can't, please listen to me. I was stupid and I was wrong and I should never have lied to you, but I also know I should never have gone back to the ministry in the first place, I made a choice many years ago, a choice I have never regretted and that was to be with you and James and the rest of our family, and I still stand by that decision. I shouldn't have gone back at all, not even for a few weeks, I know that now and –"

"Harry," she interrupted gently, "You must have regretted it, somewhere, somewhere deep inside of you, that is what made you go back, you could have advised them, given them information but you didn't need to go back out there to search and fight, you did that because you missed it, because you did regret your decision and because you wanted to go back and fight. I understand that Harry and I understand why you lied to protect me and the children, I forgive you for both of those things. But I know I can never stop that need, and I don't want to stop it, I have no right to ask you not to work out there again-"

"Gin, you have every right, you're my wi-"

She held up her hand to stop him and continued, "No I don't Harry, I want you to be happy and I would never stop you from doing something you really want to do, but I also know that I can't live that life again, not now I have the children, I can't do it. I can't wake up every morning thinking that it could be the last day of our lives together, wait day after day to receive the owl which tells me you are gone...forever. I've done it once, and it was harder than I thought it would be, I couldn't ever do it again, not with the children to think of."

"I know that Ginny, I know and that's why I won't ever go back again, I promise you," he pleaded, "it's you I want, you and the children."

"You do Harry, but you also want that –"

"No, I don– "

"Yes you do," she affirmed vehemently, "at least you will, one day, you'll long for it again, it may not be next month or next year but eventually you will, you'll want to go out there again, but you'll hold yourself to the promise you made to me and the children and you'll start to resent us, to blame us, to feel that it is our fault that you can't go back out there. It will chip away at us slowly but surely until you feel nothing other than resentment for us Harry, I know you will."

"No you don't Ginny," he said forcefully taking her hands in his own and holding them tight so she could not move away, "You don't see, okay yes, I thought I missed it, I thought I had a tiny regret and you're right, maybe that's why I went back into the fray instead of staying as an advisor, but," he continued holding on tighter to her hands as she once more tried to move them, he had pulled the chair up close to hers and he was leaning in as close as he could, looking into her eyes and willing her to believe him. "I didn't, I didn't miss it at all, the only thing I thought about when I was out there with Ron was, when will this be over? When will we find this guy so I can go back to my wonderful life with my wonderful wife and children, the one I had left all of this behind for? It didn't compare anymore Ginny, not at all, I just wanted to be with you but I couldn't give up because by then I had promised Abery, yet I knew that as soon as it was over I was done, I wouldn't be doing any more for him or the Ministry."

She looked him back in the eyes and relaxed her hands in his, "I don't believe you Harry," she whispered.

"Please Ginny, please..." he replied tears beginning to sting his eyes as he saw hers filling up too, this couldn't be it, it couldn't be over, he wouldn't allow it, "you have to believe me, you have to know that I love you and the children more than anything, more than a job, more than my own life. I wouldn't have a life if you weren't in it."

"You'd have your fight, Harry and I would never stop you from seeing the children."

"It's not enough," he uttered as the tears fell down his face, "nothing would be enough without you in my life, I would be nothing Ginny, I don't want a life without you in it, I don't need the ministry, I don't need to work, I just need my family. Please Gin, I just need you, you have to believe me," he finished watching the tears slide down her face mirroring his own.

"I don't know if I can, Harry," she said looking down at his hands which were still clasping hers.

"Please," he said softly and then he leaned in to kiss her, pulling her forwards slightly with his hands he gently placed his lips on hers opening them slightly as they touched but not forcing anything on her, for a moment she resisted but then she kissed him back longingly for a few seconds, Harry's hands slid up to her face where he could feel the tears still pouring from her eyes mingling with his own as their faces touched and the kiss deepened but suddenly she drew back from him and pushed his hands away from her.

"No," she whispered keeping her eyes closed but putting her head down, "you can't do that Harry, you can't kiss me now," she swallowed hard as if she could barely say the words, "it won't change things. I love you, I will always love you and this is breaking my heart but we must do it, before it becomes even harder, I can't go back to a life of constant worry and I can't go to one which is going to simmer with resentment until it burns us all."

"It won't," he sobbed, tears now streaming down his cheeks, "I don't want to..." he stopped and stood up taking her hands in his again and pulling her to her feet. Harry wiped his eyes and tried to compose himself as he looked squarely into her eyes. His tone became more vigorous as he continued speaking, "I tried to do this once to you Ginny, tried to leave you so you would have a safer life and you refused to let me do it, you believed in me and you waited, you knew I would come to you and...and I did. I know now how you must have felt and I also know that you don't really want to do this but you feel you have to just like I did back then. But Ginny, I did come back, you were right to believe, in the end I knew that nothing could or ever would come between us or stop us being together." His piercing gaze continued to stare straight into her eyes without wavering, he was pleading through them for her to believe him and hear what he was trying to say.

"You have to believe me when I say that I do not regret for a moment giving up the ministry for this life, I am sorry for lying to you but I am not sorry for going back because now I know any nagging doubts I may have had were wrong, I don't want that life again either and I know somewhere, deep inside, you believe me. You trusted me when I left you before the wedding Ginny, we may have had a little help and advise from friends and family but you trusted me to come back to you...and I did...your trust in me then stopped me from making the biggest mistake of my life. Now I have to trust you...I have to trust that you will come back to me Gin, because with or without you and the children," he held back the fresh tears threatening to fall but his voice broke on the words and he had to pause as he watched Ginny's tears stream down her cheeks again, "I will not go back to work, I will not stop waiting and hoping that you will come back to me because I trust in us, like you once did and I know that you will not throw away what we have. I believe in us Ginny, we are stronger than this," he finished as the fresh tears poured unheeded over his eyelids.

Then he kissed her again gently, a quick peck on the lips this time but she held the position as he drew away her eyes closed and her heart longing for him to continue , "Believe in me," he whispered once more before she could open her eyes and then he stepped away. Ginny opened her swollen red eyes and looked at him, his heart broke in two as he imagined that she might never believe him and might never come back, but he shook himself to strengthen his resolve, he believed in her and he had to trust that she would return it.

Ginny stared at him, she didn't speak or move or even think she just stared at the father of her children, at the man she loved above all others, at the man who had protected her and loved her back for almost as long as she had loved him, she watched as he stepped backwards and stared at her, willing her with his emerald green eyes to believe him. She watched as the tears ran down his cheeks and fell from his face onto his crumpled robes and she watched as he turned on the spot never taking his gaze from her brown eyes and apparated from the room leaving her alone and comfortless with only her confused thoughts.

He landed on the doorstep of number twelve Grimmauld Place and collapsed, Harry didn't have the strength to stand and open the door, had he really just left her there without making her see that they were meant to be together? Had he done the right thing? She had watched him as he stepped back and apparated away but what had she been thinking? He could not read her face or her mind, had he managed to convince her that he didn't want to go back to the ministry? Would she actually believe him or trust in them?

"What have I done?" he called out to the street before burying his head in his hands.

It was almost an hour before he stood up and entered the empty house, he could hear Kreacher still pottering away in the kitchen which he walked past to ascend the stairs, he let his feet take him to the library where he sat back in the chair he had spent the night in. The half empty bottle of firewhiskey was still on the desk with an empty glass tumbler beside it, he was tempted to drink the rest of it but knew it would not take his problems or his heartache away so he stowed them both in a desk drawer and returned to the photo album he had been perusing the previous evening.

He was still sitting in the same position with his back to the door three hours later when a timid voice from the doorway said, "Hello Harry."

**But is it who you think it is? Is it who we all want it to be? Please review and I'l let you know soon!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Again, much thanks to my reviewers, it is so good to read your comments! I hope this chapter can give the story as much justice too as it is the last one I'm afraid so you now get to see who was at the door! I have had mixed comments about Ginny's character in this one as she is not quite as vehement about her relationship with Harry, but I figured maybe kids would change that? I don't know, I just wanted to try this tack with her so I hope it worked, anyway it's Harry's turn to do the main fighting this time!!**

**Read on and review! **

Chapter 18

He swung the chair around to face the voice he had heard, he knew who it belonged to and he wanted to leap from the chair and run to it, run to her and hold her in his arms but he didn't, he couldn't, he just sat there and stared at her waiting for her to speak first.

Ginny stood there looking back at him, not moving either, she only had five words to say to him but standing there now, in front of him they seemed to be the hardest words she had ever had to say, even though they should have been the easiest. His gaze never left her eyes and she began to shake underneath it's burning intensity, he was unsure of what she was going to say and she remembered that time when she had been waiting and waiting for him at the altar on their wedding day, the leap in her heart when she had seen him behind Ron dressed in his robes and ready to marry her.

She had given him no indication so far of what she was there to do or say and she could see that the longer she stayed silent the more he was wilting under the belief that she was going to break his heart forever.

She stepped forwards into the room and looked him straight in the eye uttering quietly, "I believe in us too." Then the tears which she thought had dried out began to fall again as Harry stood up slowly and walked towards her.

"I'm sorry," he said once more looking into her eyes as he took her hands and cupped them gently between his own.

"I know, Harry, I know. I am too," she sobbed gazing back at him through her waterlogged orbs. At hearing these words he pulled her into his arms and wrapped them around her as if he would never let go, she sobbed into his shoulder and he gently rocked them both while burying his face in her bushy red hair, kissing the top of her head and stroking it with one hand. They stayed in that position for a few minutes before he pulled backwards and moved his hands to cup Ginny's tear stained face, he softly kissed the tears away before placing his lips on hers and kissing her passionately, she returned the kiss with equal vigour and they relaxed into each other wrapping their arms around one another's backs and clinging tightly like limpets on a rock.

It was while before they parted long enough for Harry to take her by the hand and lead her across the hall to the living room where they sat down on the couch as close as they could still holding hands, neither one wanted to relinquish their hold on the other, "What made you change your mind?" Harry asked tentatively while absentmindedly stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

"You," she replied smiling, "you reminded me of the days before our wedding, when I was so stubborn and determined to have you, no matter what. I remembered how unafraid I was of everything you were putting in our way, how much I just wanted to be with you for as long as I could. Knowing that even if we lost each other because of your job or because something else happened to me I was determined that we would be happy and together for as long as possible rather than be alone and miserable forever. I said the same thing to you, remember? I told you I would never be with anyone else if I couldn't have you. We may have grown and changed since then but my beliefs haven't changed, we should still be together for as long as we can and if that means I have to worry about you, then so be it, I would still worry about you if we weren't together anyway so..." she paused and swallowed, "if you need to go back, then I will support you and – "

"Ginny," he interrupted placing a long finger softly on her lips, "I am not going back, and not because you don't want me to, because I don't want me to, I meant what I said. You were right I did have a nagging doubt in the back of my mind, not one that was festering or making me resent you or the children but it was there and when I was given the opportunity I admit I jumped at it but now I've done it and it was nothing like I thought it would be, it was nothing like my life at home all day with you and the little devils." He grinned up at her, "Trust me, you and those children have changed me and my life forever, I will never be as happy again out there fighting for the ministry, now I'm a grown up family man who really knows that all he wants to do is stay at home. I know I said this all those years ago when I first gave it all up but I've done my fighting for our world now, I just want to be a normal family man and I know that without any shadow of a doubt now. I will offer Abery my advise and knowledge but nothing else, I promise you."

She smiled at him without speaking and he continued, "So now you can forget about that guilty feeling you always harboured at the back of your mind that I somehow blamed you, I never did, but now you know for sure." Ginny nodded at him and smiled again as she placed her head back into the crook of his shoulder so he could encase her in his strong, muscular arms, making her feel safe and warm and deeply loved. She was happy again, happy to be in the arms of the man she loved, the father of her children, her one true soulmate who she knew she would still do anything for.

Harry was relishing the feeling of having the woman he loved back in his arms, he was happy to just be holding her gently burying his face in her hair and drinking in her sweet aroma, he wanted them to stay in that position forever, he was comfortable and it all felt right. He listened to her breathing in and out slowly as she wound a hand around his crinkled shirt and began to unbutton it from the top, Harry looked down at her and watched, "What are you doing?" he asked gently when she had released every button and begun to stroke his chest softly with the tips of her fingernails.

"I want to be close to you," she replied.

"We are close," he chuckled squeezing her gently.

"Not as close as we could be," she uttered moving his shirt to one side and kissing his chest, he moaned softly and she smiled as she carefully opened his shirt completely and sat up to stare at him, he moved his own hands to her slender waist and tried to pull her blouse from the waistband of her skirt but she moved them away, "No," she said and he looked at her quizically, "I want to make this up to you."

"Make what up? Gin I lied to you, I made you think that I...I should be making it up to you."

"No, Harry, you told me the truth and then I-" he cut her off with a finger on her lips and then pulled her down on top of him as he lay back on the couch, lifting his head he slowly and passionately kissed her on the lips to stop her from continuing as he wrapped his arms around her tightly and slid them down her back to release the blouse from her skirt. She tried to protest again and whispered his name but he whipped out his wand, and flicked it so that when he turned her over onto her back and off the couch they hovered momentarily and then drifted down to the shaggy carpet still enfolded in each others' arms but with Harry on top and Ginny relenting to his touch. When they touched the floor Harry moved his lips from hers and began to kiss her neck and shoulders as he unfastened each of the buttons on her blouse to expose her delicate stomach, he trailed kisses down it and between her breasts before reaching around her back to unfasten the black lace bra which contained them.

Ginny giggled and ran her fingers through his hair, she then tried to turn him over herself to give him some pleasure too but he had always been stronger than she was and he held her down steadfastly and she gave in to him as he began to kiss and caress the area around her nipples, slowly and teasingly flicking them with his tongue intermittently as he removed the rest of her clothes, she groaned longingly and Harry's head lifted up to look at her and smile. He paused momentarily and lifted himself onto his knees to click the lock on the door with his wand and this gave Ginny the opportunity to grab hold of his trousers and unfasten them teasingly, she could already see how much he wanted her and when she had released the zip on them she slipped her hand inside and stroked him gently with her fingers. Harry groaned and lifted his head to the ceiling before looking back down at her, staring deep into her eyes. They both stopped and stared at each other for a moment both realising simultaneously just how much they loved each other and how close they had come to losing one another.

"I'm so sorry," Harry whispered, "I can't believe I almost lost this, you, because I was stupid and...Merlin what must you have been thinking when you saw that picture?" he continued stroking a stray hair out of her face, "I hate myself for doing that to you."

"Harry," she replied, twisting her hands around his back and into his hair, "it doesn't matter anymore, it's over, forgotten about, I can't believe I was stupid enough to think I could actually live without this, without you in my life." She smiled up at him and then gently pulled him down on top of her, they kissed longingly and then he allowed her to roll him over so he was on his back and she sat astride him on her knees. Slowly and sensuously they began to make love while staring deeply into each others' eyes, they rose and fell together, their interlocked eyes never wavering, until they both reached heights of passion and then, happy and satisfied, Ginny lowered her upper body until her breasts were touching his chest, their were eyes still locked together and staring intently.

"I love you so much Ginny Potter," Harry sighed as he lifted his hands to run through her hair, it was one of his favourite parts of her body and she smiled as he smoothed it back from her face and then let it fall again tickling his chest. Their faces were still lust filled as Harry gently turned them both so Ginny was laid once more in the crook of his arm, her head on his shoulder and his arms wrapped protectively around her. She caressed his chest again with her fingertips and listened to his heart beating like a drum beneath his chest. "Remind me that nothing will ever compare to this feeling again."

"You always think that after sex Harry, you're a man!"

"I don't mean that," he chided gently, "I mean this, yes making love, but making love to you, and being laid here with you, comfortable, happy and..."

"Satisfied?" she teased and he rolled her onto her back again and peered into her eyes.

"Ok yes, satisfied but you know I mean, it's not always about the sex Ginny it's about..."

"I know, Harry," she replied in a sultry voice, "I'm teasing you," and then she leaned her head up to kiss him once more and they were lost in each other again, both trying to make it up to each other for the last few days.

They stayed in the living room for a few hours holding each other and talking about who knew what had been going on and who didn't, Ginny told Harry again that James was very suspicious and they decided that they should go and get the children together, show that the trouble had passed and that they would be alright. An owl had arrived from Hermione while they had been talking telling them that she had taken them all back to her house with Ron before Molly became too suspicious of why they weren't 'away' with Harry and Ginny.

"Shall we floo?" Harry asked rising to his feet and holding out a hand for his wife.

"Can you apparate us?" she asked and he nodded knowing how much she enjoyed it when they travelled that way together, it made them as close as they could possibly be, sharing the smallest amount of room as they were squeezed through space to another place. They ran down to the front door and out into the fresh air where Harry once again Wrapped her up in his arms as tightly as he could, he kissed her tenderly on the forehead and whispered, "I love you Ginny Potter, and what ever I did to deserve your love and understanding was never enough, but I will strive to be more deserving of it."

Ginny looked up at him and replied, "I love you too and I've told you before, you loved me, that's all you needed to deserve me, nothing more."

Harry kissed her lips swiftly before turning on the spot and then feeling the usual squeezing sensation as they moved through space together and appeared seconds later with a loud POP in Hermione and Ron's kitchen.

The dazzling smile on Hermione's face when she looked up and saw them standing wrapped up so closely could have outshone any star in the sky it was so bright. They both returned a shy grin looking like two naughty school children caught in a compromising position as they blushed a little.

"Oh Harry, Ginny," Hermione began but she was interrupted by Lily dashing across the room and clamping herself on her father's leg, "Daddy, Daddy," she called, "please can we go home now?"

"Yes," he answered releasing his wife and picking up his little angel, he swung her around as she giggled furiously and then hugged her tightly until she started to wriggle.

"Hey mate, Sis!" Ron said brightly as he entered the room, he had heard the pop from upstairs and come down to investigate the visitors, "good to see you together again," he added giving them a thumbs up, "now please tell me you're here to take these nightmares off our hands?"

"Ron," Hermione screeched as a look of embarrassment crossed her face.

"Relax Hermione, they know I love them really, don't you Lily?" he returned looking at the cute little cherub in Harry's arms and ruffling her hair, the little girl nodded enthusiastically as he added under his breath, "and I love them even more when they go home!" Harry chuckled at his best friend's comment knowing full well that his children were a handful when they were all together, though Hugo and Rose could give them a run for their money some days.

"Go and round up your brothers then Lily and we'll get you all back home where you belong," Ginny instructed and Harry placed her back on her feet so she could run out of the room to find them.

"They're up in Rose's room playing chess," Ron informed her.

"Quick, get them now before an argument begins," Harry urged as the little girl ran from the kitchen in the direction of the stairs.

"So everything...er...?" Ron tried to say, he was well aware that he usually put his foot in his mouth and was trying to avoid a reproachful look from his wife accompanied by 'honestly Ron!'

"Yes," Ginny said looking at her husband, "we've talked and sorted things out now."

"Good, and make sure it stays that way!" Ron replied, "I'm sick of feeling the need to batter one of you for hurting the other one, I know it's been a while since the last time but it seriously does my head in. I knew my best friend and my sister getting married would be a pain for me!"

"Ron!" Hermione called from the table.

"Well, it's true," he replied and Hermione shook her head as she looked at Ginny and Harry and they all smiled. Then Ron added, "So now you're back together again and everything is sorted out we were wondering...well...er...I'm not sure if you want to know about it...but the...er...well..."

"The er what Ron?" Ginny said taking on a Molly Weasley stance with her hands on her hips, "Just spit it out."

"The...er...shop," he looked sheepishly at his feet and Harry followed suit.

"What about it?" Ginny asked suspiciously looking from her husband to her brother.

"Well it's ready and we're having a bit of an opening do and we wondered if you wanted to...er...come?" his voice rose unnaturally high at the end of the question and he appeared to be waiting for his sister to explode.

"We'd love to," Ginny replied placidly as Lily and the three boys returned to the room, "wouldn't we Harry?"

"Wha...?" he said turning to look at his wife who was smiling as if Ron had just invited them for tea and not to the place he had been using as a cover up for the last few months, "Oh...yes...yes of course we would," he coughed looking guiltily at Ginny but she just smiled back at him and took Lily and Vernon by the hand. "Well we can sort out the details later, let's get this lot back where they belong shall we?" he added swiftly changing the subject.

"You floo the boys Harry and I'll bring Vernon and Lily, see you at home," she said ignoring his uncomfortableness and heading towards the fire, "thanks for looking after them Hermione, and...thanks for everything else." The elder witch nodded at her friend and smiled as she watched her enter the fireplace to return to her home with her children and her husband where Hermione knew she was always meant to be.

The children seemed to have forgotten all about their short visit to Xenophilius' house by teatime that evening, as Kreacher served them meat and potato pie with cabbage, carrots and lots of meaty gravy the children chatted animatedly about the games they had been playing with Rose and Hugo, but did not once mention their time away. James had eyed his parents apprehensively at first when they had returned to the house, but after a couple of hours he'd relaxed and realised that whatever had been going on it was all over and sorted and by teatime he had almost forgotten why he had been worried in the first place.

Later that evening Harry settled Albus and James into bed while Ginny organised Lily and Vernon then they both retreated to their favourite haunt in the house, by the kitchen fire. They had been seated for ten minutes drinking hot chocolate, made for them by Kreacher who was back to his usual happy self running around after the family he loved, when a creak from the kitchen doorway alerted them to someone else's presence in the room.

"Vernon," Ginny said softly spotting his sillouette in the doorway, "you should be in bed now."

He looked at her guiltily before saying, "Can...can I ask you something?" as he moved towards the fireplace to stand between them both looking rapidly from one to the other.

"Of course," Ginny replied.

"You..." he looked at his feet as if ashamed or afraid to say what he wanted to say, "you left...Ha...Harry for a while, did...didn't you?"

"Yes," she replied truthfully, "but everything is sorted now so you don't need to worry," she smiled down at him but he still would not look back up at them.

"I know but...but when you went you..." he paused and they waited patiently both painfully aware that this was only the second time he had actually ventured to talk to them. "You took me with you," he concluded. Both Potters looked at him with a bemused expression.

"Of course I did Vernon."

"My Mum left once," he continued still gazing at his feet, "she went away for a while, but she didn't take me, she left me with my Dad and he took me to Grandma's." The hugely proportioned boy raised his head and looked directly at Ginny, "But you didn't, you took me with James and Albus and Lily...why?" he asked sincerely.

Ginny looked taken aback at having been asked such a question, "Because you are my child now Vernon, I may not be your real mother and Harry may not be your real father but we are your guardians and as far as we are concerned you are one of our children, wherever they go, you will go and what ever happens to us," she looked at her husband as she said this, "you will still be our child." She smiled at Vernon who had a curious expression on his face, they could both see tears welling in the boys eyes, this was the first time they had ever seen any emotion other than anger in him, Ginny longed to hold out her arms to comfort him but he had always shied away from their affections and she did not want to push him after what seemed like such a break through.

"Th...Thank you," he whispered sincerely, for what Harry believed was probably the first time in his life.

"You're welcome," Ginny replied and then he lunged forwards at her and gave her a rugby hug, it was rough and over so quickly that she almost missed it, but it was there at last, some human contact with the boy which he had initiated himself. They were both still staring at each other in shock when he ran from the room and they heard his feet pounding on the stairs as he returned to his bedroom.

Neither of them knew what to say after that so they made their way up to their own bed to share a little time together while Kreacher watched over the children, they remembered again how much fun it was making up in the bedroom and it was another few hours before they finally fell asleep, exhausted, but happy and as in love as they always had been.

**AN: Okay so this could be the end of the story, I have written an epilogue but if you don't like the soppy twee endings then feel free to give it a miss, or read it and discard it after!! I personally thought JK's final chapter in Deathly Hallows was a little bit twee really but then I am one of these readers who needs to know what happens next, even when the crux of the story is over (not that you'd guess that from all my stories- haha!) Anyway I will post the epilogue too but you have been warned!!**


	19. Epilogue

**So here it is, the epilogue, r****emember you have been warned, it's twee and you might not like it! Ha ha but hey why not read and review anyway!!**

Epilogue

"But when can we go and get everything I need?" James sulked as he poured milk over his cereal.

"There's plenty of time before September young man so stop getting ratty and be patient," his mother replied.

"But all the best stuff will be gone, I want a proper brass cauldron with matching scales for potions and-"

"You will have a standard pewter cauldron like all the first years are supposed to have James Sirius Potter," Ginny interrupted with a scolding tone to her voice.

James' mouth fell open in horror, "That's not fair, Victoire has a matching brass set and she's had them since her first year too."

"And she never needed them, it was just your Aunt Phle- er Fleur having to give her the best as always," she retorted and then in a whispered voice added, "because they always have to be better than everyone else."

"Ginny," Harry chided when he heard her but still chickling in agreement.

"But Mum, why can't-"

"You will wait until your letter arrives, James" she interrupted "and then we will go and get what is on the list and nothing else." He opened his mouth to argue again but a stern look from his father told him he was not going to win the argument so he turned back to his breakfast with a sulky look on his face.

Harry watched on from his favourite chair by the fire as his two other children and his young cousin, Vernon, came to sit at the table for their breakfast, there was barely a month left before James would be going to Hogwarts and he realised that it would be quite strange when he was no longer there every day causing trouble. Of course Albus and Lily would still be around for a few more years and Vernon would be at home at least until he was eighteen and his money was released.

Over the last few years Vernon had settled into their family and was now like one of their own children, he still argued with them sometimes but in the same way that they did with each other. He had slowly integrated with them all, learned to play wizarding games and interacted with the entire Weasley clan, he even allowed Molly to hug him albeit briefly whenever they went over to the Burrow or if she came to visit Grimmauld Place. However in their house the only people allowed to hug him were Ginny and Lily and again it would always be brief and quite sporadic, he had grown quite close to Lily and become as protective of her as Albus was, he was always more comfortable playing games with her than he was with the boys and they could often be found ensconced in a room or vacant area together. Albus had been a little jealous at first as Lily had always been his baby but his easy going nature had let it slide when he realised that Vernon was not trying to take her away from him. James' temperamental nature meant that he and Vernon were often at loggerheads with each other, but no more so than he was with Albus at times. If truth be known Harry and Ginny were both looking forward to James attending Hogwarts so he would be around other children of his own age and disposition as the gap between him and Albus, in age and in character, was just a bit too wide for an easy life in the Potter household.

About a year after he had first arrived at the Potter house, Harry had added Vernon to the Potter-Weasley family tree, the boy had been shy about it at first but was also secretly proud and pleased that he had been added to their family in such a way.

Life for Ginny and Harry had returned to normal quite soon after their brief separation, true to his word Harry had not gone back to the Ministry, although he did go back in an advisory position when Abery asked him to, he always insisted that Ginny drop into the office unexpectedly during these times so she could make sure he was only at the Ministry and not off in the fray but she constantly refused saying that she had to trust him. However Harry was sure he had seen a wisp of red hair scoot past the auror office on a few occasions when he had been in there but he did not mind at all, he had been stupid to lie to her and knew he was never going to make as grave a mistake again.

"We'd better be going out to get you a uniform too, Vernon," Ginny said softly as she poured him a glass of pumpkin juice, he nodded back at her and smiled. He had been fed on a much healthier diet since his arrival with the Potters and had slimmed down considerably over the last two years, although he would never be gangly like James and Albus because he had a large frame, he was much trimmer than he had ever been in his life which also made him fitter, by the end of his final year at the local muggle school he had been playing on both the rugby and football teams, something he would never have dreamed of doing in his life.

Vernon had also become quite taken with Quidditch, he had watched the children playing at the Burrow when the whole family were together and Harry had even taken him up on his firebolt once or twice so he could be part of the game, he had loved the feeling of flying and his cousin had even allowed him to catch the snitch, something Vernon had been immensely proud of. On his eleventh birthday in January they had taken him to see a proper Quidditch match, the Chudley Cannons against the Appleby Arrows and the young boy had been in complete awe, they had flooed to the ground with all the children and taken their seats in a box which Abery had managed to wangle from the Minister for them. Vernon had never taken his eyes off the game which had played out for over five hours before the Cannon's seeker, Marcus Towler, had caught the snitch and won the game. They had been so delighted with the result that Harry had taken them all out to eat at the Leaky Cauldron where they had ordered steak and chips with plenty of butterbeer to keep them in high spirits. By the time they had reached home Lily was asleep in Ginny's arms and the boys were swaying on their feet, Vernon had had a smile on his face as wide as a coat hanger and had collapsed exhausted into his bed.

The boy had accepted wizarding life as normal and had very little to do with muggles and their ways at all, other than attending school. Ginny and Harry had tried to encourage him to do muggle things knowing that he would one day need to re-integrate into that world but he was reluctant to do so and eventually they had mused that maybe he would live like a squib in the magical world and leave his muggle roots behind if that was what he wanted, they didn't mind as long as he was happy.

Harry smiled over at the boy who was pouring milk onto Lily's cereal, it had taken some work but he realised that taking in the boy was the best thing he could have ever done for both Vernon and Dudley, he felt happy that he had been able to show a young child the kind of life he had been missing just like the Weasley's had done with him.

"Mum, look," Lily squealed pointing at the window and the whole family turned to face it, they saw two owls heading straight towards the house and Harry quickly jumped out of his seat to open it for them. They both swooped gracefully into the kitchen with their sealed letters, they didn't recognise either of them but their stature and markings showed that they were both official owls.

"Looks like one might be from Hogwarts, James," Harry said and the boy's face lit up like a candle, "the other one is probably from Abery," he added looking over at his wife who smiled in understanding. James had jumped out of his seat as soon as he had realised that one of the owls was from Hogwarts and was now holding a large envelope in his hand with the school's official seal stamped on the back, Harry gestured for the other owl to drop it's load on the table as they crowded around James to look at his letter. He ripped it open with vigour and pulled the letter out, there in curly black writing was his official confirmation that he was to attend the school of witchcraft and wizardry on September the first. Enclosed was his train ticket to school from platform 9 ¾ and a list of everything he would need for his first year, "There you go James," Ginny said pointing at the list, "it says one standard sized cauldron, pewter." James pulled a face but it was replaced instantly with the smile that showed how happy and ready he was to be going to this infamous school, Lily and Albus were beaming for him too as Harry clapped him on the back and Ginny stood proudly, no one had noticed Vernon.

"Vernon, isn't it-" Lily began as she turned to look at her cousin but her mouth fell open as she saw what he was holding, "what's that?" she asked curiously and all the other heads turned to look at him. Vernon Dudley Dursley was sat in his seat at the table, his breakfast discarded, his mouth wide open, holding a large creamy coloured envelope in his hands. He was staring down at it in bewilderment reading the address handwritten on the front:

_Vernon Dursley, 12 Grimmauld Place, London_

The rest of the family could see the Hogwarts crest stamped on the back of it, Ginny walked around the table to look at it with him, "Are you going to open it Vernon," she said softly making him jump a little.

"It...it can't...can't be for me, they...they must have made a...a mistake, I'm not a...a...a wizard, am I?" he stuttered.

"Open it up and see," Harry said remembering that Hogwarts, or rather Dumbledore, had once written to Aunt Petunia to say she couldn't attend the school so he didn't want to get the boys hopes up yet.

"Have a look," Lily whispered to him placing a hand on his arm, she could think of nothing better than Vernon being a wizard now that he had spent two years almost becoming one of them. Slowly he tore open the top of the envelope and extracted the letter, opening it carefully he peered down at the curled writing on the page which began:

_Dear Mr Vernon Dudley Dursley_

_I am pleased to inform you that you have been given a place at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. The school year commences on September 1__st__ this year and you will be taken to school by the Hogwarts Express which leaves Kings Cross Station, London from platform 9¾ at eleven o clock._

_Enclosed in this letter is your train ticket and a list of books and equipment which you will need to bring with you to school._

_I look forward to seeing you on the first of September._

_Professor Minerva McGonagall_

_Headteacher, Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry._

"Me," he whispered unable to believe it, "I'm a...a...wizard?" The bemused young boy looked up at Harry curiously and he took the letter from his hand. Lily was jumping up and down by his side while Albus and James looked on with a similar curiosity.

"Well..." Harry began, "you can only get into Hogwarts if you are a wizard, your Grandmother wanted to get in but she wasn't allowed to because she wasn't a witch, so it can't be a mistake Vernon, you must be a wizard," he beamed down at the boy.

"Grandma Petunia?" he asked quizzically.

"Yes," Harry confirmed realising that he had never told anyone about the memory he had seen in the pensieve, Ginny was also looking at him inquisitively now as she had never heard about this before either. "I saw it in a memory once, when my mother got her letter from Hogwarts your Grandmother wanted to go too so she wrote to the headmaster but he wouldn't allow it because she wasn't a witch."

"Oh," Vernon replied, "So how can I be a wizard then?"

"I'm not sure, my Mum was a muggle born witch but neither of her parents were wizards or witches, otherwise your Grandmother would have been one too, but there must be some wizarding gene somewhere in the Evans family, which was carried by Petunia and your father and was passed onto you," he smiled down at the boy who was still stuck somewhere between shock and elation and gave him back the letter. "It says you can attend Hogwarts Vernon, so you must be a wizard!" the boy continued to stare at the letter which he read over and over again as the rest of the family watched on.

Ordinarily in this kind of situation where James would feel someone else was stealing his thunder the eldest Potter boy would have started an argument, but over the last two years he had grown to accept Vernon as a brother and had learned quite a lot from him about the muggle world, he had been unable to imagine what life would be like to live in a magical world without ever being able to do magic and he had started to feel sorry for the boy who would never be a full part of his world. Watching him now and seeing the joy on his face made him feel a little bit humbled, he was genuinely happy for his cousin and secretly thought it would be quite nice to have a friend at Hogwarts before he even started as deep down inside he was rather nervous about leaving his home and family. He stepped towards Vernon who had still not taken his eyes from the piece of parchment in his hand, Ginny noticed and held her breath waiting for her son to get angry about the situation but he surprised them all when he held out his hand to the child and said, "You'd better be in Griffindor!"

They all relaxed and started to laugh at James who turned to them all with a puzzled expression. "Come on," Ginny began smiling at them both, "we might as well make a trip to Diagon Alley seeing as we'll need two lots of everything!"

"Hooray!" James cheered dashing from the room to get dressed properly, "last one to get ready smells of stinksap!" he added as his feet pounded up the stairs, Albus and Lily charged up after him but Vernon was still sat at the table staring in disbelief at the letter. "Are you sure?" he asked tentatively lifting wide eyes, still too afraid to believe it for sure, and looking at Harry and Ginny.

"Vernon," she began softly sitting down on his right and placing a hand on his shoulder, "Believe us, there is no mistake, if you got into Hogwarts you must be a wizard, trust us Minerva McGonagall will not get it wrong, like Harry said there is magic somewhere in your family, it came to his mother and now it has come to you." He stared at her through enormous eyes and she could see some kind of acceptance in them, "now go and get yourself ready and we'll floo through to the Leaky Cauldron, you and James are going to need some supplies, some school robes and more importantly, a wand." The eyes grew wider again at these words as Vernon remembered all he had seen over the last two years whilst living in a magical family, he had always been most intrigued by Harry and Ginny's wands and now realised that if all this was real, if it wasn't a dream then he would soon be holding and learning to use his own wand. Vernon jumped from the chair and bounded out of the room to get ready as Ginny and Harry turned to face each other, "I can't believe it," he said to her.

"I know," she replied, "but isn't it wonderful? He has come to be so much a part of our family now and I always feared that once the children were able to do magic too he would feel more and more left out, but now...well, this is amazing, I'm so happy for him."

"I wonder if Dudley knew?" Harry said.

"What? How could he?" his wife replied.

"I don't know...maybe he did something when he was a young child, he knew afterwards that some of the strange things I did when we were younger were due to magic, like my hair always growing back and when I blew up Aunt Marge, maybe Vernon did something which made Dudley realise what he was, maybe that's why he wanted him to grow up with us if anything happened to them all, rather than Aunt Marge who would never understand it all, he would have known that due to his father's reaction to me, he would have known she would never accept it."

"Maybe you're right," Ginny replied, "But we'll never know for sure, come on let's get these boys kitted out and ready for school."

She left the room as Harry sat back in his chair and thought about how it had all turned out, his life was certainly different to the one he had had with the Dursleys when he was a child, finding out he was a wizard had been one of the best days of his life and he thought it very fitting that after everything he had been through Vernon was now going to have a life similar to that.

At the time he had thought that taking in a Dursley could have been a huge mistake even if it was what Dudley wanted but now he realised it had been the right and fitting thing to do, Dudley had believed in him and Harry was sure that somehow he had known that Vernon was magical, he just thought it was a shame both for the boy and his cousin that he was not there to see it now.

A scream from upstairs signalled that at least two of his children were arguing again and Harry set off up the stairs to intervene, he realised that life would be much quieter without James and Vernon around but he also knew that once they had gone he would miss them deeply and long for them to be back at home making a mess, making noise but most of all making him realise that he had the most wonderful, loving and understanding family in the world.

**There you go! Thank you loyal readers and reviewers, I hope it wasn't too twee, I just thought maybe making Vernon a wizard would be fitting cause how much would Petunia and Uncle Vernon have reacted to that??**

**Anyway I usually say this at the end of every story but I think it's come to an end, I can't possibly give Gin and Harry more heartache to create a soppy angsty story, I thikn they've been through enough now. I do prefer the romantic slush when I'm writing cause it's so easy but I'm just not as interested in developing it in other characters! So this may be the end of this story line for now! But then again who knows? I said that after all my last three stories so I may be back before you know it, I am toying with a Hogwarts story based on Lily and Vernon but I'm not sure if i'm into it yet!**

**Anyway if you care I may be back!!**

**Chow for now!**


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